Author's Note:
Oh my Chuck! I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated! I ended up going to The Giving Back Tour in Indianapolis and then again in Cleveland. Soooo much fun with friends... and Misha! And the new season started, and I didn't realize I hadn't updated!
Please review!
***Jack POV***
May 3, Evening
Jack was powerful… perhaps the most powerful creature in the universe, aside from Michael. He was also barely a child. He was not a military leader. He might be more powerful than Michael – if he was lucky – but he wasn't as smart, nor was he as experienced.
He had learned this the hard way recently, and it had cost him the deaths of a handful of his soldiers. "Michael doesn't want to kill you… he wants to break you," the prophet had said before the bomb had exploded. Jack had barely had the time to shield Mary.
That had been just a few days prior, and the sound of the humans burning alive around him still echoed in his head. It was for this reason that he was jumpy. He felt hyper-aware, and he had pushed his senses to their max these past few days.
He had known his father had come for him before he had even seen him – he had sensed his grace, as his father had taught him almost a year prior. And there was another angel. It was an archangel, but his grace was dim, as though he was gravely injured. If this angel was with his father, he must be good.
Then there was another angel, and the aura of hate surrounding him surpassed even that of Michael. Michael was righteous – lawful, but pompous, and certainly misled about humans. In contrast, this angel was evil. And strong.
"Father, who is that?"
But it was the other angel with his father that answered: "Lucifer. He must have followed us through the rift."
"Come on!" Lucifer was shouting at the wary group. "You should be accepting me with open arms! With my little bro here being a hot mess, you're gonna need me if you want to fight Michael! So, I'm here to join the team."
Jack bristled, and he could feel his father and the other archangel bristling as well. Lucifer had called him "little bro"… was it Gabriel? His father had said that Gabriel was dead… but that was a thought for later.
Lucifer was walking toward him. "Your name is Jack," Lucifer addressed him.
"And yours is Lucifer," said Jack, staring back at him. He tried to think what to do. As much as he hated the thought, he now understood that he was responsible for everyone in this colony. If Lucifer could be helpful…
But he had heard of Lucifer. His mother had told him all about Lucifer in the few weeks they had had together, and he was, perhaps, as big of a threat as Michael himself.
The decision was made for him, as Dean stalked forward. "No, no. No. You don't talk to him." He pointed at Lucifer. "And you, don't listen to him." He pointed at Jack.
"Um, don't you think that's his choice?" asked Lucifer.
"No," said Castiel.
"Look, you need me," said Lucifer. "Michael didn't expect you guys to come here today, but if I know my brother I can almost guarantee you he's figured it out by now. The Midwest will be covered with his scouts looking for the rift, much less the attack he'll be planning for the colony."
Jack looked at Lucifer with narrowed eyes. He was right, and Jack knew it, even if the others didn't. Michael had spies everywhere. Mary had been sure, for weeks, that Michael had known exactly where they were hiding all this time, even if his subordinates didn't. He was simply waiting until either he was sure he was strong enough to recapture Jack, or until Jack somehow managed to lead him to the other universe. As much as Jack was happy to see his parents and their friends, he almost wished they hadn't come. They must have opened a rift, and it was exactly what Michael had been waiting for.
Just as Jack was about to explain this, Dean said, "No. Kill him." Dean was gesturing at Gabriel, who appeared uncomfortable.
"He can't," Lucifer taunted. "He's not strong enough."
"Dean," protested Gabriel.
"I don't understand all the hostility," Lucifer said, still taunting. "You... need... me. I am a walking weapon. I know this Michael. Heck, I beat him. So how 'bout a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T?"
"I'll handle this." It was Castiel. Jack watched his father go to the bag that Dean had thrown over his shoulder and unzip it roughly, pulling out warded handcuffs.
"In case your innate evil overwhelms this new-found team spirit, you won't mind wearing these then, will you? You're not at full power, not with all the grace we used to get here. They should hold you."
The group of them stared at Lucifer coldly, a solid wall of accusation. Finally, Lucifer held out his arms smugly. "Slap 'em on."
"So if you're here, is the rift closed?" asked Sam. Jack noticed that Eileen was with him. He eyed the new silver rings on both Sam and Eileen's hands. He knew that meant either marriage or engagement, though he wasn't sure which. Either way, the thought made him happy.
"No, it's open," Lucifer said, and Jack groaned. "I left Rowena some grace. So you have...I'm thinkin'...31 hours, give or take?"
"Sooner," Jack said. "We've got to get back and close the rift. Michael knows where we are… Mary and I have been sure of it for weeks. He's waiting on the right time to strike, when he's sure he's more powerful. But his spies will have seen you coming. They'll be looking for a rift."
"Then we have to leave as soon as possible," said Sam. "We have to go back."
"Go back?" Jack asked in surprise.
"I… um… Boys, um… about that," started Mary. "I'm not going back."
"I'm sorry," Dean said accusatorily. "What?"
"I fought beside these people," Mary explained. "I respect them. I respect their cause. You can't expect me to just abandon them."
"Or me," Jack agreed. "I'm – I'm the only chance these people have."
There was instant protest.
"Jack, you are absolutely not-…" began Ember.
"Jack, you must understand-…" began Castiel at the same time.
"Actually, Jack, you've got the right idea," started Lucifer, "Only-…"
"Shut up!" screamed Gabriel, Castiel, and Ember.
Meanwhile, the Winchesters continued to argue with their mother.
"No, Mom, that's not -…" began Sam. "You heard what Lucifer said. We have 31 hours -…"
"Sam...Dean... Ember… Cas… I know what you went through to come find us," said Mary, taking control of the conversation.
Dean scoffed.
"But these people are being slaughtered," Mary explained. "They need us."
Again, instant uproar. Dean's voice won out, because it was the loudest. "No, we need you, Mom," said Dean. "We do. We have been mopping up the world for years. Years. We have been knocked down. We have been possessed. We've lost friends. We've lost family. We've lost each other. And we never walk away, ever. And sometimes, we should've, because not every fight everywhere can be won. It just can't. Right?" He turned to the small group. "Tell them."
"I think they've made up her minds," Sam said with a small grin. Jack felt a wave of relief for his earliest guardian.
"See?" said Dean, caught off guard. "Wait. What?"
But Castiel also began to smile, and Jack knew his father had an idea. "Jack and Mary don't want to leave these people," said Castiel. "So let's take 'em with us."
Sam smiled back at Castiel.
Mary frowned, however. "They'll never leave their home," she complained. "They'll never leave their cause."
"It's a lost cause," said Lucifer. "Unless I'm-…"
"Can somebody just… I don't know, tie him to a tree?" Dean snapped. "Is there anybody who can watch him?"
"I will," said Gabriel, leading Lucifer away.
Sam picked up the conversation once Lucifer was out of earshot. "I'm not saying abandon the fight," he said. "I'm saying we get them somewhere safe, then we all figure out a way to take down Michael. Then once we do, they can come back and save their world."
Jack thought about this. He looked at Mary to see if he could ascertain how she felt about the situation.
She smiled. "You'd do that for them?"
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Half an hour later, the group was walking to the colony's base camp, along with the small group of survivors that had been at the outpost. There was no point in Jack and Castiel using angel transport – it would alarm the other humans, and they would be shot on sight upon arriving at base camp. Besides, the walk was only about half a mile.
Castiel and Ember brought up the front of the group, along with Jack. Lucifer trailed along behind them, followed by Mary, Dean, and Sam. Eileen was with Sam, and Dean's girlfriend was with them too, a woman Jack had learned was called Jo.
Suddenly, Gabriel came running frantically through the forest. Jack knew he had been sent ahead to scout. He made eye contact with his father, who, like him, was readying his angel blade.
"Angels!" Gabriel screamed at them, diving for cover next to Lucifer.
"Hey, right there!" shouted a group of six of Michael's angels.
"How many can you take?" came the panicked voice of Jack's father.
"All of them, I think," Jack answered. Meanwhile the Winchesters were readying guns.
"Kill them, on my command!" shouted the lead angel warrior.
Before Jack could raise a finger, however, the angels exploded into a puff of smoke. As one, the group turned to look at Lucifer. He had his fingers up in a SNAP motion, and he looked bored. His handcuffs glowed red and melted off.
"Oh, yeah, about the cuffs," he said indifferently. "I, um, ate some angel grace as soon as I got to this universe. I knew they wouldn't hold me. Long story short, I didn't want your impotence to get awkward, so I just went along."
The group exchanged significant glances.
"You're welcome. Welcome. Right?"
No one spoke.
"Don't thank me all at once," Lucifer snapped at them. "See? I can be a Team Player."
***Castiel POV***
May 3, Night
Once at base camp, the group of them met with the Apocalypse World version of Bobby Singer. He was interested in what they had to say about returning to their world, and asked them to present it to the other men in charge of the small colony.
"My brother and I... back home we're sitting on the biggest collection of lore and weapons in our world," said Sam. "Now something in there might be enough to even the odds."
"So we find that, then you come back here with a plan, a plan to beat Michael and his armies. And then you win," said Dean.
"Exactly," said Sam.
Castiel noted that some of the people were beginning to look interested. Suddenly, however Castiel's attention was stolen by a soldier who came in and whispered something to Bobby. Castiel saw Jack's eyes widen, and knew that he had heard them, being both closer to Bobby and more powerful.
"What?" Castiel asked him, but he shook his head.
"You may think you don't know us, but you do," Sam was saying emphatically. "We've been where you are. Hell, we are you."
The men seemed to consider their offer. "We'll talk to our people, take a vote," one of them said.
The brothers thanked their small audience, and the meeting was adjourned.
Bobby approached. "Just got news about Charlie and Ketch. Goin' after the execution squad went sideways," he explained. "They're the ones who got ambushed."
"I'll search for them," said Castiel. "Jack, stay with-…"
"No," said Jack. "Going after them could be dangerous, and I'm more powerful. And someone needs to stay behind with them… with Lucifer."
"But Jack, we just got you-…" started Ember.
"He's right," Castiel whispered, taking Ember's hand.
She sighed. "Okay," she agreed finally. "But just search and scout, okay?"
Jack nodded, and was gone in an instant.
He was back only a few seconds later. "We've got to hurry," he said. "I can take four of you, I think. Dean, Sam, Mary, Ember, and myself should be more than enough. Unless…"
Jack paused for a moment, turning to look at Castiel as though evaluating his father. Then he touched him briefly on the head.
With Jack's touch, Castiel saw… himself, but different. An Apocalypse World version of himself – a Castiel who had never met Sam and Dean. This other Castiel must be with Charlie and Ketch now. He could see his other self as Jack had seen him, and knew, instinctively, that this Castiel had turned horribly evil.
"I should go, then," Castiel said, and Jack nodded.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Castiel watched his counterpart, invisible. He had run from the fight - why? Perhaps he considered it beneath him. He reminded Castiel in many ways of himself, so long ago, before Ember. Was this what would have happened if Dean, Sam, and Ember hadn't shown him the importance of humanity? Would he have fought his doubts until the effort it took to fight them turned him bitter, and bitterness turned him evil? Perhaps so.
In addition to his mind for strategy, Castiel had always been good at using his mind and grace to track humans and other angels. He'd always been naturally good at sensing things, and finding others who didn't want to be found. And, on the few occasions he had had to invade the mind of a human or another angel to get information, he'd been uncannily good at that as well. But this other Castiel had turned that natural talent into something horrible… a weapon used for torture.
Castiel almost took pity on this monster. He had never known Ember, never spent time with Dean and Sam, never known what was really and truly important. More than anything, however, it scared Castiel to think that he could have been this angel.
He could hear shouts coming from the cabin where Ketch and Charlie had been tortured. Dean, Sam, Ember, and Mary were more than enough of a match for the three angels there, much less Charlie and Ketch themselves.
Just as his counterpart moved to disappear, Castiel slammed him into the side of a tree. He punched him in the face.
The other Castiel looked at him in shock. "More than one of us," he said. "Fascinating." He had an odd drawling voice, a German accent which seemed only to perpetuate his evil demeanor.
"I've gotten used to it," Castiel snapped.
"You align yourself with the humans," said his counterpart, surprised etched on his face.
"I vastly prefer them to angels."
It was over, and they both knew it. Castiel was a much better fighter than his counterpart. This new version of Castiel may be evil, but he had never been made a seraph, and it was evident that any skill at fighting he may have once had was rusty and unpracticed.
"Don't think that you are better than me," his counterpart accused. "Well, we are the same."
"Yes," said Castiel sadly, thinking of how close he had come to becoming this angel. "We are." And he stabbed him.
***Sam POV***
May 4, Early Morning
As unfortunate as hang-up with Charlie and Ketch had been, their retrieval had bolstered the morale of the small colony. The men and women in charge of the colony, including Bobby, had taken a vote and they had all decided to go back through the rift to the world Sam and Dean had left behind.
"How do you want to do this?" Sam asked his brother. "That's a lot of people to get through the rift. Jack and Mom think Michael is watching us to try to get back through himself."
"I think so too," said Dean. "So we need our fighters there first. Preferably all at once."
Castiel sighed. "We'll need Jack and – I hate to say it – Lucifer to combat Michael," said Castiel. "So I'll do transport."
The small group looked at each other uncomfortably. "I don't like this," Ember said finally.
"Neither do I," said Dean, shaking his head. "But it'll have to work."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
The colony took an hour to grab their belongings, and then it was time to go. Because they were expecting Michael to meet them at the rift, the fighters went first. Lucifer transported Gabriel, Sam, and Dean, because the three of them refused to allow Lucifer to transport anyone else. Castiel transported Jo, Eileen, and Mary, and Jack transported Ember, Ketch, Bobby, and Charlie.
Upon arrival, all 13 of them looked around, readying themselves for a fight… but none came. "OK," said Dean. "It's all clear. Cas, Jack, go back and get the rest."
The two of them nodded and disappeared.
"I can-…" started Lucifer.
"No," snapped Dean, Sam, and Ember at the same time.
The first seven survivors arrived with Jack and Castiel a moment later. They seemed bemused by angel travel, and stared apprehensively at the rift. "Hey, come on!" Dean yelled. "Ketch, show 'em how it's done."
Sam understood: the situation on the other side was unknown, and they needed to send a fighter through first.
"Follow me!" yelled Ketch, and the seven disappeared one after the other.
"Mom, Bobby. Charlie, you're with them," Sam directed as Castiel and Jack arrived with another seven.
"See you on the other side, bitches," said Charlie.
The second set of seven disappeared through the rift quickly, but not before Jack and Castiel had brought seven more.
When they, too had disappeared through the rift, and the third set of seven had appeared with Jack and Castiel, Sam began to relax somewhat. "Eileen, Jo, you two go through."
Jo began to stand her ground, but Eileen knew better, seeing the pleading in Sam's eyes. "C'mon, Jo," she said quietly, and the two of them disappeared through the rift just as Jack appeared with the last four members of the colony.
"That's it," said Jack as members of the colony continued to go through the rift.
"Son, let's go," pleaded Castiel.
"But what about Michael?" Jack said stubbornly, and Sam understood – he had hoped for a fight with Michael.
"We'll come back for him," Ember said. "I promise."
Turning his head resolutely toward the rift, Castiel, Ember, and Jack disappeared through it.
Lucifer attempted to go through next, cutting the last six survivors in line. "
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up," Sam said, stopping Lucifer with his gun.
"What?" Lucifer asked.
"We need you and Gabriel here, in case something goes wrong. Wasn't that the whole point of you being on the team?"
Just then, they heard the unmistakable sound of fireworks. Sam's stomach dropped, and he and Lucifer looked skyward as one. They barely had time to react as fireballs fell just next to them, killing the last of the survivors.
"No!" screamed Dean.
All of them raised their weapons, attempting to peer through the dust caused by the explosion.
There was a loud ringing noise, and suddenly a scuffy man in a long overcoat approached. Sam knew that this was Michael from the way Lucifer tensed next to him.
Michael's wings were unfurled, showing as shadows against the dust. "Gentlemen," he said calmly.
Lucifer stepped forward. "Lu," Michael said arrogantly. "You don't really want to try this again, do ya?"
"Um...Yeah," Lucifer said confidently.
They nodded at each other, and Lucifer's eyes glowed red. He flung his hands out, blasting Michael with invisible power. Michael was knocked back a few steps, but remained on his feet, almost unaffected.
Michael cast a bluish-white ball of power at Lucifer with one hand, then another. It knocked Lucifer to the ground, where he moaned in pain, a bit of blood coming out of his mouth. Michael smiled at Lucifer, but then looked up and noticed Gabriel.
"Can it be?" he whispered. "Gabriel?"
Gabriel looked determinedly at Sam and Dean, taking a step forward. "Go," he said. "I can buy some time."
"Gabriel, don't," Sam whispered, knowing that it was useless.
"All I did on Earth was run," said Gabriel. "I'm not running anymore."
Gabriel took a few more steps forward, and Michael smiled cruelly.
"Go!" shouted Gabriel.
Dean pulled Sam towards the rift, but they stopped just before it, eyes turned back to watch Gabriel's fight with Michael.
Michael pulled an archangel blade from his sleeve. Gabriel raised his own and moved into combat position. Gabriel lunged, but Michael deflected, again and again. Finally Michael punched Gabriel, knocking him back. Then Gabriel managed to punch Michael squarely in the face while also scratching his shoulder, and Sam thought for a minute that Gabriel might win. A shining ray of hope shot through him. But then Michael had surprised Gabriel with an underhanded move, and caught him squarely in the chest with the archangel blade.
"Gabe! No!" screamed Dean, and he attempted to charge forward, but Sam held him back.
Blue light streamed out of Gabriel's wound and out of his eyes and mouth. Michael watched with glee as his brother slumped forward.
There was no more time to wait. "Go. Go!" Sam screamed his brother, and Dean, too, disappeared through the rift.
Sam stepped up to the rift as well, then looked back, determined. Michael slid Gabriel off of his archangel blade, then stared down at his dead body. Gabriel's eyes were open and unseeing.
Suddenly Sam heard pleading. "Sam, help me, man. I'm hurt. Please."
Lucifer had risen from the ground and was making his way toward the rift, bleeding profusely from the stomach. Michael was still a ways behind him, but walking forward determinedly. There was no time to waste. "Lucifer, how did you think this was gonna end?" Sam snapped, and he stepped through the rift.
"Close it!" he yelled on the other side, though he wasn't entirely sure who he was yelling at. To his relief, however, the rift fell closed behind him.
They had done it!