A/n: In honor of finishing my finals (finally) here's the next chapter. Which is one of my personal favorites, even if you guys who are reading don't REVIEW! -_-
Dean rolls over in bed and yawns, trying to slip into a coma. It's been awhile since he's gotten any sleep. His phone vibrates; ending all chance of slipping back into unconsciousness. Groggily he reaches over for the device and answers it. "Damn it, Cas, I need to sleep!" He yells into the phone, fully expecting the fallen angel to be on the other end.
"Dean, it's me." His brother's voice crackles through the speaker. "I'm putting us on three-way with Jamie."
A beat later Dean hears his sister's tired voice. "Sam?"
"Sam? It's quarter past four." He's crankier than usual. The lack of sleep is really cutting into him.
"Dean?" His sister asks, not missing a beat.
"I'm here, Jamie." He replies with a sigh.
"This is important." His brother insists.
On his sister's end something clatters to the floor. "Oh my God." She whispers, just loud enough for them to hear.
He heaves another sigh and turns the light on. While Sam talks he gets out of the bed and gets a beer out of the fridge. "So, you're his vessel, huh? Lucifer's wearing you to the prom?" He finally remarks.
"That's what he said."
He can't resist commenting on the irony of the situation. "Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in, huh, Sammy?"
"So, that's it? That's your response?" Sam is annoyed, and Dean can't blame him, but he's not ready to forget everything that's happened just yet. That, and he needs a minute to process.
"What are you looking for?" He asks.
"I don't know. A—a little panic? Maybe?"
"I guess I'm a little numb to the earth-shattering revelations at this point." He's just being honest.
Jamie clears her throat. He forgot for a moment that she was listening. "Well I'm panicking if that makes you feel better, Sam."
"Jamie." He waits for his brother to continue. "What's your role in all this? I mean narrating the apocalypse?" He had forgotten that Zachariah mentioned that, but clearly Sam did not. He's curious to hear the answer.
His sister sounds exhausted. Her voice is dulled. "Yeah. The good news is that Michael and Lucifer can't touch me, because regardless of who wins I'm neutral in this. The bad news is that makes me extremely important to both sides."
He figured it couldn't have been that simple. He hates that they're all tied up in all of this, and all in different ways. Still he can't help himself. "But you're in exile, Jamie. I thought that was supposed to free you."
She again doesn't miss a beat. "And it shall be written: the voice of one crying out in the desert shall emerge from exile to speak of the battle of between the Prince of Hosts and the Devil."
"So the prophet emerges from exile when the apocalypse begins." Sam states.
"Great." Is all he can say.
"What are we gonna do about it?"
"What do you want to do about it?" He shoots back, but he already knows what Sam has in mind.
"I want back in, for starters."
"Me too."
"Jamie, Sam—"
"I mean it. I am sick of being a puppet to these sons of bitches. I'm gonna hunt him down, Dean."
He rolls his eyes. Exactly what he expected. His brother hasn't moved on. Hasn't gotten the point. "Oh, so, we're back to revenge, then, are we? Yeah, 'cause that worked out so well last time."
"Dean…" His sister warns, in that tone that's part scolding and reminds him of his mother, part yelling from his father, and part begging, the kind of begging only a little sister can manage to pull off.
"Not revenge. Redemption." His brother says.
"So, what, you're just gonna walk back in and we're gonna be the dynamic duo again?" He's being sarcastic, it's a defense mechanism really. "No offense Jamie." He adds quickly, to ensure his sister knows he hasn't forgotten her.
"None taken."
"Look, Dean, I can do this. I can. I'm gonna prove it to you."
He sighs. "Look, Sam—it doesn't matter—whatever we do. I mean, it turns out that you and me and Jamie, we're the, uh, the fire and the oil and the pyre of Armageddon. You know, on that basis alone, we should just pick a hemisphere. Stay away from each other for good." He really doesn't know what else to do at this point. He's running out of ideas, options, and time.
After a moment Jamie chimes in. "Maybe he's right, Sam." He knew she'd be on his side.
"No Jamie." His brother's tired and frustrated voice announces. "Dean, it does not have to be like this. We can fight it."
"Yeah, you're right. We can. But not together. We're not stronger when we're together, Sam. I think we're weaker. Because whatever we have between us—love, family, whatever it is—they are always gonna use it against us. And you know that. You too, Jamie. Yeah, we're better off apart. We got a better chance of dodging Lucifer and Michael and this whole damn thing, if we just go our own ways."
"Dean, don't do this." His brother begs.
"Dean." That tone again from his sister.
He's done discussing it. Done for the night. "Bye, Sam. Bye Jamie." He hangs up.
In the morning, the nightstand clock is smashed; when he answered his phone it was fine. He's also lying on the springs of the hotel bed; the mattress is gone. He gets up and looks around; the entire room is trashed. He looks out the window; so is the city. He doesn't understand what happened. He just knows something isn't right. So he leaves the hotel and takes a look around; the area is devastated, everything broken or graffitied on or both. Suddenly he hears something, like glass smashing. He goes to investigate.
The first sign of life Dean sees is a girl in an alley with a teddy bear. He approaches her slowly. "Little girl? Little girl?" She doesn't respond. "Are you hurt?" Another moment passes. Again no response. He draws closer. "You know the not-talking thing is kind of creepy, right?" Blood drips from the girl's mouth. Suddenly she shrieks and attacks Dean with a shard of glass. He flattens her and looks around, catching sight of a large piece of graffiti: it reads "CROATOAN". "Oh, crap."
Several people, all most likely infected with the Croatoan virus the same as the girl, come around the corner. He runs. They chase him onto a street blocked by a chain-link fence. Several soldiers on tanks arrive, shooting the infected people. A glass window shatters. One of the soldiers flicks a switch on an electronic device. Gunfire. Two more people fall. Several of the soldiers advance with gunfire. More fall. Dean stays under cover and retreats to an alley as the bodies continue to fall.
He spends the day dodging Croat infected people, as night falls he breaks through the fence. A sign on the fence reads:
CROATOAN
VIRUS
HOT ZONE
NO ENTRY
BY ORDER OF ACTING REGIONAL COMMAND
AUGUST 1, 2014
KANSAS CITY
"August 2014?" He asks outloud. Taking a moment to process, he spots a car nearby and hurries to hotwire it. He drives through the night. There is no cell service and only static on the radio. "That's never a good sign."
"Croatoan pandemic reaches Australia." Zachariah has arrived in the shotgun seat, startling Dean; he reads from a newspaper. "
"I thought I smelled your stink on this Back to the Future crap."
Zachariah ignores him and continues to read. "President Palin defends bombing of Houston." Certainly a buyer's market in real estate. Let's see what's happening in sports. That's right—no more sports. Congress revoked the right to group assembly. What's left of Congress, that is. Hardly a quorum,if you ask me."
He looks at the road and then back to the angel. "How did you find me?"
"Afraid we had to tap some unorthodox resources of late—human informants. We've been making inspirational visits to the fringier Christian groups. They've been given your image, told to keep an eye out."
Dean thinks for a moment and then remembers the street preacher he encountered the day before. "The Bible freak outside the motel—he, what, dropped a dime on me?"
Zachariah smirks. "Onward, Christian soldiers."
He's pissed now. Not only as he been thrust through time, but he's got to be more careful in the future. "Okay, well, good, great. You have had your jollies. Now send me back, you son of a bitch."
"Oh, you'll get back—all in good time. We want you to marinate a bit."
Why doesn't he like the sound of that? "Marinate?"
"Three days, Dean. Three days to see where this course of action takes you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that your choices have consequences. This is what happens to the world if you continue to say "no" to Michael. Have a little look-see." The angel vanishes.
With no cell service he has no ability to contact his sister, nor does he have any idea where to start looking, so he starts with the place most familiar to him, most permanent. Bobby's house.
"Bobby? Bobby, I'm coming in!" He warns as he opens the door and steps inside. He looks around. The place is pretty thoroughly trashed, and from the spiderwebs and dust, no one has been around in a while. "Oh, no." Bobby's wheelchair is on its side. Dean sets it upright and sees the bullet holes through and dried blood on the back of the seat. His surrogate father is dead, then. "Where is everybody, Bobby?" He opens a hidden compartment and pulls out John's journal. He finds a photo of Bobby with Castiel, three men he doesn't know, and a sign. "Camp Chitaqua."
Dean approaches the sign from the photo. Men with guns are just inside the fence, patrolling. He's careful to stay out of sight. He catches sight of the Impala, smashed up and rusted to hell. "Oh, baby, no." His beloved ride is destroyed. He approaches the Impala for a better look at the damage, peering inside the driver's side door. "Oh, no, baby, what did they do to you?" He whispers softly. He hears something and has barely turned to look when he is knocked out by his 2014 self, identified by the military-issue green jacket he is wearing instead of his blue shirt.
He wakes up slowly, and discovers he is handcuffed to a ladder. His future self is across the room cleaning a gun. He has another gun strapped to his leg. "What the hell?" He asks, staring at the future version of himself.
"I should be asking that question, don't you think? In fact, why don't you give me one good reason why I shouldn't gank you right here and now?" God he's a dick.
"Because you'd only be hurting yourself." He replies, trying to sound like a smartass.
"Very funny." His future self isn't buying it. Not that easily.
"Look, man—I'm no shapeshifter or demon or anything, okay?"
"Yeah, I know. I did the drill while you were out. Silver, salt, holy water—nothing. I almost brought Jamie in here to do her thing. But you know what was funny? Was that you had every hidden lockpick, box cutter, and switchblade that I carry. Now, you want to explain that? Oh, and the, uh, resemblance, while you're at it?"
He sighs. "Zachariah."
His future self stands up. "Come again?"
He stares up at the alternate version. "I'm you from the tail end of 2009. Zach plucked me from my bed and threw me five years into the future."
The future Dean looks around. "Where is he? I want to talk to him."
"I don't know."
"Oh, you don't know." Back to being a dick.
"No, I don't know. Look, I just want to get back to my own friggin' year, okay?"
"Okay. If you're me, then tell me something only I would know."
He thinks, then smirks. "Rhonda Hurley. We were, uh, nineteen. She made us try on her panties. They were pink. And satiny. And you know what? We kind of liked it."
His future version is impressed. "Touché. So, what, Zach zapped you up here to see how bad it gets?"
"I guess. Croatoan virus, right? That's their endgame?"
"It's efficient, it's incurable, and it's scary as hell. Turns people into monsters. Started hitting the major cities about two years ago. World really went in the crapper after that."
He isn't surprised, really. It makes a lot of sense. He pauses, remembering something his future version said earlier. "You said you almost brought Jamie in here. So our sister is alright?"
His future version smirks, looking over at him. "Yeah and still as feisty and stubborn as hell."
He doesn't want to ask, but he has to. He has to know. "What about Sam?"
The Dean from 2014 goes still. "Heavyweight showdown in Detroit." He finally says. "From what I understand, Sam didn't make it."
He doesn't know why he's shocked. "You weren't with him?"
"No. No, me and Sam, we haven't talked in—hell, five years."
"We never tried to find him?"
"We had other people to worry about."
He's still not totally convinced. He might understand his clone's reasons, but he doesn't believe for a minute that his sister abandoned their brother. "Jamie never tried to find him?"
He's quiet when he brings up Jamie. "Jamie had issues of her own." He says, as he gets up and walks towards the door.
"Where you going?"
"I got to run an errand."
"Whoa. You're just gonna leave me here?"
"Yes. I got a camp full of twitchy trauma survivors out there with an apocalypse hanging over their head. The last thing they need to see is a version of The Parent Trap. So, yeah, you stay locked down."
"Okay. All right. Fine. But you don't have to cuff me, man. Oh, come on. You don't trust yourself?"
"No. Absolutely not." His doppelganger leaves.
"Dick." He mutters under his breath, and then pries a nail out of the floorboards and uses it to remove the handcuffs.
Dean glances around the camp. He sees Chuck coming towards him. "Hey, Dean. You got a second?"
"No—yes. Uh, I—I guess. Hi, Chuck."
"Hi. So, uh, listen, we're pretty good on canned goods for now, but we're down to next to nothing on perishables and—and hygiene supplies. People are not gonna be happy about this. So, what do you think we should do?"
"I—I don't know. Maybe, uh, share? You know, like at a kibbutz."
"Wait a minute. aren't you supposed to be out on a mission right now?"
"Absolutely. And I will be."
"Uh-oh." Chuck is staring over his shoulder. He looks at Chuck and then turns around. A woman comes up behind Dean and tries to slug him.
"Whoa! Jeez! Easy, lady!" He ducks and hides behind Chuck.
"Risa."
"Risa?"
"You spent the night in Jane's cabin last night, didn't you?"
He has no remote idea about what she's talking about. "Uh, what? I—I don't—did I?" He turns to Chuck for help. He nods.
"I thought we had a 'connection'." She air-quotes the word.
"Well, I'm sure that we do." He says, trying to keep her from swinging at him again.
"Yeah?"
"Hi, Risa." Chuck says, trying to break the tension.
"Screw you." She storms away.
He sighs. "Oh, jeez. I'm getting busted for stuff I haven't even done yet."
"What?"
"Uh, never mind. Hey, Chuck, where's Jamie?"
"Probably with Cas"
He turns to look at Chuck. "...Cas still here?" He asks.
"Yeah. I don't think Cas is going anywhere."
He hurries off to find Castiel's cabin. He finds it quickly enough and goes inside. Castiel is sitting in a circle with several women, but one woman in particular catches his eye. She is short and pale, standing off to the side, leaning against the wall with a book in her hands. Her hair is sand-colored, streaks of blonde indicating it's true palet, cascading over her shoulders. She's wearing a black long sleeve shirt over a purple tank top, and a grey military jacket, light colored blue jeans, a knife tucked into her belt and a gun, almost identical to his future self's strapped to her thigh.
"So, in this way. We're each a fragment of total perception—just, uh, one compartment in that dragonfly eye of group mind. Now, the key to this total, shared perception—it's, um, it's surprisingly physical." Castiel is explaining to the women. He looks up and spots Dean. "Oh. Excuse me, ladies. I think I need to confer with our fearless leader for a minute. Why not go get washed up for the orgy?" His eyebrows shoot up at Castiel's last word. The women leave. "You're all so beautiful."
Jamie rolls her eyes, putting her book down. Castiel stands and stretches his back, grunting.
"What are you, a hippie?" Dean asks.
"I thought you'd gotten over trying to label me."
Jamie steps forward, into his line of sight. "Dean, what are you still doing here?"
He looks at Castiel and then at his sister. "Jamie, Cas, we got to talk."
"Whoa. Strange." Castiel takes a step back.
"What?"
"You...are not you. Not now you, anyway."
"No! Yeah. Yes, exactly."
"What year are you from?"
"2009." His sister answers, just as he's about to open his mouth. Some things haven't changed.
"What she said."
"Who did this to you? Is it Zachariah?" Castiel looks at him, interested.
"Yes."
"Interesting."
Jamie shakes her head. "Not really."
He glances at her and then at the angel. "Oh, yeah, it's friggin' fascinating. Now. Why don't you strap on your angel wings and fly me back to my page on the calendar?"
Jamie scoffs, shaking her head.
"I wish I could just, uh, strap on my wings, but I'm sorry, no dice." He explains.
"What, are you stoned?"
"Uh, generally, yeah." The angel replies, honestly.
He stares at him for a long moment, taking in his appearance, his manner, he is very different from the Castiel he knows. "What happened to you?" He finally asks.
Jamie looks up. "Same thing that happened to all of us."
"Life." The angel answers.
A car and a jeep arrive back in the camp. Future Dean and some soldiers climb out. Their Dean grabs two beers and tosses one to a soldier. They both open the beers and drink. Jamie runs up to her Dean and hugs him. He hugs her back and then pushes her behind him. He whispers in her ear and nods his head in the soldier's direction. She nods, frowning. He draws his gun and points it at that soldier. Dean comes out of the bushes.
"Hey. Hey! Watch out!" He yells in warning.
Future shoots the soldier. The others look between the two. "Damn it." Future Dean cusses. He addresses his men. "I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and him—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."
Jamie gestures to the men. "You heard him, go on."
Future Dean shoves present Dean into the headquarters room. Jamie walks in and shuts the door behind them. "What the hell was that?" His future self demands.
"What the hell was that? You just shot a guy in cold blood." He yells back.
His future self is emotionless. "We were in an open quarantine zone. Got ambushed by some Croats on the way out." Dean's expression asks for an explanation. "Croats. Croatoans. One of them infected Yeager." At the mention of Croats Jamie walks over to her version of Dean and turns him towards her. He glances at him and then stares down at her and takes off his jacket. He whispers to her as she feels his chest and arms. "I'm fine, they didn't get close to me, okay." He puts his arms around her and hugs her close to him. He rubs her back as she digs her fists into his shoulder. Dean watches with knowing eyes, seeing the tenderness pass between the future versions of himself and his little sister, glad at least one thing hasn't change.
"How do you know?" He finally asks.
2014 Dean pulls back from Jamie and looks at him. "'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 a good man'? You just blew him away in front of your own people. Don't you think that freaked them out a little bit?"
Jamie sighs. "Dean, please try to understand. It's just the way things are now."
"The way things are?"
2014 Dean shakes his head. "It's 2014. Plugging some Croat, it's called commonplace. Trading words with my friggin' clone—that might have freaked them out a little."
"All right, look—"
"No, you look. This isn't your time. It's mine. You don't make the decisions. I do. So, when I say stay in, you stay in."
Jamie puts her hand on 2014 Dean's chest, pushing him back just a little. "Calm down." She whispers to him. Dean puts his hands up in surrender.
"All right, man. I'm sorry. Look, I—I'm not trying to mess you—me—us up here."
"I know." 2014 Dean walks over to the sink and pours three glasses of alcohol.
"It's just been a really wacky weekend."
"Tell me about it." He hands one glass to Jamie and sets the other two on the table. They drink.
He's curious now. "What was the mission, anyway?" 2014 Dean pulls out a gun; it's the Colt. Jamie's eyes light up. She smiles just a little. "The Colt?"
"The Colt."
"Where was it?"
"Everywhere. They've been moving it around. Took me five years, but...I finally got it. And tonight—tonight, I'm gonna kill the devil."
2014 Dean is leaning against the table. Jamie stands at his side, arms crossed tightly over her chest. On the other side Castiel puts his feet up. Risa is standing against the wall near Cas. Dean is sitting on the desk a few steps back.
Risa stares at the gun. "So, that's it? That's the Colt?"
The future version of Dean nods. "If anything can kill Lucifer, this is it."
"Great." Risa mutters, sarcastically. "Have we got anything that can find Lucifer?"
Jamie raises her hand. 2014 Dean looks at his sister and then to Risa. "Are you okay?"
Dean grins. "Oh, we were in, uh, Jane's cabin last night. And, apparently, we and...Risa have a connection."
His clone eyes him. "You want to shut up?" He raises his hands in surrender. Jamie snickers and shakes her head. "We don't have to find Lucifer. Jamie can sense where he is. But more than that, we know where he is. The demon that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew."
"So, a demon tells you where Satan's gonna be, and you just believe it?"
"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying."
"And you know this how?"
Castiel speaks up, looking over at Risa. "Our fearless leader, I'm afraid, is all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth."
Jamie looks at Dean and then groans softly. "Cas…"
He knows exactly what Castiel is taking about. "Torture? Oh, so, we're—we're torturing again." He gets flashbacks of Alistair tied to the devil's trap. Jamie looks at him, as does his future self. "No, that's—that's good. Classy."
Suddenly Castiel laughs. Jamie puts her hands on 2014 Dean's chest. The future Dean looks at him. "What? I like past you."
"If you're done…"2014 Dean spreads out a map. He points to a circled location. Jamie leans in and so does Castiel. "Lucifer is here. Now. I know the block and I know the building."
Jamie groans softly. "Oh, good—it's right in the middle of a hot zone."
"Crawling with Croats, yeah. You saying my plan is reckless?"
Both Castiel and Jamie look at him. "Are you saying we, uh, walk in straight up the driveway, past all the demons and the Croats, and we shoot the devil?"
"Yes."
"Okay, if you don't like, uh, 'reckless', I could use 'insouciant', maybe."
"Lay off it, Jamie."
She stares at her brother. "Dean."
He relents just a little. "Please." She sighs, and he touches her arm before looking at the fallen angel. "Are you you coming, Cas?"
Castiel sighs. "Of course. But why is he?" He gestures to Dean. "I mean, he's you five years ago. If something happens to him, you're gone, right?"
"He's coming."
"Okay. Well, uh. I'll get the grunts moving."
"Midnight." Jamie mutters.
2014 Dean nods. "We're loaded and on the road by midnight."
"All righty."
Castiel and Risa leave out the back door. Jamie crosses her arms again, sighing and looking away. 2014 Dean looks at her, frowning. He takes a step towards her and puts his hands on her arms. They share a look. Dean gets up. "Why are you taking me?"
2014 Dean looks over at him, and so does Jamie. "Relax. You'll be fine. Zach's looking after you, right?"
"No, that's not what I mean. I want to know what's going on." His future self is hiding something, and it makes him uneasy.
Jamie can't take it anymore. She stares at her version of her brother, her eyes flashing with anger. "Tell him, Dean. Tell him why I have to stay behind while you walk into a goddamn trap and get yourself killed."
"Jamie, we've been over this. You're the only one I trust to run things if something happens to me. And I'm not going to walk my baby sister right into something like this, either."
"This is my fight too."
"No it isn't. You're not the voice anymore, Jamie."
"And whose fault is that, Dean? This isn't about you, or me. He is my brother too." Dean looks shocked. "Tell him. Or I will."
2014 Dean turns to his past self. "Yeah, okay. You're coming because I want you to see something. I want you to see our brother."
"Sam? I thought he was dead."
Jamie shakes her head. "No, he lied."
"Sam didn't die in Detroit. He said 'yes'."
'Yes'? There's a long silence. Before Dean speaks again. "Wait. You mean—"
"Yes." Jamie nods, gripping 2014 Dean's hand.
"That's right. The big 'yes'. To the devil. Lucifer's wearing him to the prom."
"Why would he do that?"
"Wish I knew. But now we don't have a choice. It's in him, and it's not getting out. And we've got to kill him, Dean. And you need to see it—the whole damn thing, how bad it gets—so you can do it different."
He's looking at the ground now. It takes him a minute before he can ask another question. "What do you mean?" He's not sure he wants to know.
"Zach said he was gonna bring you back, right? To oh-nine?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when you get back home—you say 'yes'. You hear me? Say 'yes' to Michael."
"That's crazy."
"No, Dean. This is crazy. What's gonna happen tonight is crazy." Jamie tells him.
"If I let him in, then Michael fights the devil. The battle's gonna torch half the planet."
2014 Dean takes a step forward. "Look around you, man. Half the planet's better than no planet, which is what we have now. If I could do it over again, I'd say 'yes' in a heartbeat."
"So why don't you?" He shoots back.
"I've tried! I've shouted 'yes' till I was blue in the face!"
His sister nods. "The angels aren't listening! They just—left—gave up! All the prophets lost their gifts. It's too late for us, but for you—"
He refuses. "No. There's got to be another way."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I was cocky. Never actually thought I'd lose. But I was wrong. Dean. I was wrong. I'm begging you. Say yes." His future self wraps his arm around his sister.
"For the love of God say yes." Jamie mutters.
There's a pause and then 2014 Dean speaks again. "But you won't. 'Cause I didn't. Because that's just not us, is it?"
2014 Dean hugs 2014 Jamie tightly. They're standing in front of the trucks, which are packed and ready to leave. Dean is watching them. His future self pulls back and looks at his sister before reaching into his pocket and hanging something around her neck. "If I fail-"
"Don't talk like that."
"If I fail, don't let him get to you. Don't let him find you. Understand? You run, and you keep running. Promise me."
"I promise." 2014 Dean leans and whispers into her ear. They hug again and then 2014 Dean pulls away and goes to his jeep. Jamie walks over to Dean. She's wearing Dean's amulet. "If you're not going to say yes, then let me back in. I want to help you hunt the devil."
Dean nods, and then turns to her. He looks her up and down. "So what happened to you?"
She gets a faraway look in her eyes. "Sam said yes. Our twin thing…when Sammy said yes, suddenly it didn't matter what Cas did, Lucifer could still see inside my head." She moves her hair away to reveal a scar. "I cracked my head open with a power drill…almost died…But it got rid of the bond with Sam. And 8 years of a lonely childhood in a convent, which is nice. I still have some of my psychic stuff, but I can't move things and I don't see much of the future anymore. Not that there's much to see."
"Remind me to never let you near tools."
"Yeah. Good luck." She gives him a quick hug and steps back.
"Thanks." He starts to walk away. Jamie looks up in his direction.
"Dean?"
He stops and turns back to her. "Yeah?"
She walks over to him and looks around before staring at him. "I uh…" She looks away again. "I lost a baby in 2011. If you're not going to say yes, could you maybe not let me go after a nest of vampires?" After a moment Dean nods. "And could you please try not to get yourself killed? Your other self, I mean. He's all I have left."
"I'll try."
He leaves and Chuck walks up to him. "So, you're really from oh-nine?"
"Yeah, afraid so."
"Some free advice? You ever get back there, you hoard toilet paper. You understand me? Hoard it. Hoard it like it's made of gold. 'Cause it is."
He's not quite sure how to take that. "Thank you, Chuck."
"Oh, you'll thank me, all right. Mark my words."
"I'll see you around."
"Yeah. Okay."
He gets in one of the vehicles. They drive off. He's is riding shotgun in Castiel's car. Castiel takes out a bottle and pops the pills into his mouth.
"Let me see those." He grabs the bottle off the angel.
"You want some?"
"Amphetamines?"
"It's the perfect antidote to that absinthe."
"Mmm. Don't get me wrong, Cas. I, uh. I'm happy that the stick is out of your ass, but—what's going on—w-with the drugs and the orgies and the love-guru crap?" Castiel laughs. "What's so funny?"
"Dean, I'm not an angel anymore."
"What?"
"Yeah, I went mortal."
"What do you mean? How?"
"I think it had something to do with the other angels leaving. But when they bailed, my mojo just kind of— psshhew!—drained away. And now, you know, I'm practically human. I mean, Dean, I'm all but useless. Last year, broke my foot, laid up for two months."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"So, you're human. Well, welcome to the club."
Castiel chuckles. "Thanks. Except I used to belong to a much better club. And now I'm powerless. 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."
He remembers what Jamie told him before he left and looks at Castiel curiously. "Those gongs include my sister?"
Castiel stops smiling and frowns a little. "She had certain feelings for me at one point, but…nothing really came from it."
"Didn't stop me from beating the hell out of you, did it?"
"Unfortunately not."
He grins a little and then frowns. "She really tried to off herself?"
"She was lost and you couldn't help her. The child she carried…it meant a great deal to her."
He blinks, realizing that Jamie lied to him. He nods to himself. "I'll remember that."
Dean, 2014 Dean, Castiel, Risa, and other soldiers walk into the hot zone, carrying guns and scanning the area. 2014 Dean leads them to the mental institution. "There. Second-floor window. We go in there."
"You sure about this?" Risa asks him.
"They'll never see us coming. Trust me. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five."
"Hey, uh, me. Can I talk to you for a sec?" 2014 Dean goes to the side with his past self. "Tell me what's going on."
"What?"
"I know you. You're lying to these people and to me."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. See, I know your lying expressions. I've seen them in the mirror. Now, there's something you're not telling us."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, really? Well, I don't seem to be the only member of your posse with some questions, so, uh, maybe I'll just take my doubts over to them." He starts to move towards the group. His future self stops him.
"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait."
"What?"
"Take a look around you, man. This place should be white-hot with Croats. Where are they?"
"They cleared a path for us. Which means that this is—"
"A trap. Exactly. Never doubt Jamie, ever."
"Yeah. Well, then we can't go through the front."
"Oh, we're not. They are. They're the decoys. You and me, we're going in through the back."
It dawns on him. "You mean you're gonna feed your friends into a meat grinder? Cas, too? You want to use their deaths as a diversion?" His future self looks away. "Oh, man, something is broken in you. You're making decisions that I would never make."
The future version of himself stares right at him. "Why do you think I left Jamie behind?"
"Was it protect her or so you wouldn't have sacrifice her too?" He shoots back. "I wouldn't sacrifice my friends."
"You're right. You wouldn't. It's one of the main reasons we're in this mess, actually."
"These people count on you. They trust you."
"They trust me to kill the devil and to save the world and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."
Dean shakes his head. "No. Not like this, you're not. I'm not gonna let you. I promised Jamie I'd get you home safe. "
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah."
2014 Dean slugs his past self.
Dean wakes up on the ground. He hears gunfire in the building and runs toward it. Thunder crashes, lightning flashes, and he sees his future self on the ground, neck held down by someone wearing a white shoe. 2014 Dean opens his eyes and sees his past self. The shoe shifts his weight; 2014 Dean's neck audibly breaks. It's Lucifer in Sam's body. He turns around and sees Dean. "Oh. Hello, Dean." He stares at Lucifer. "Aren't you a surprise." Thunder and lightning; Lucifer is now behind him. "You've come a long way to see this, haven't you?"
He doesn't turn. "Well, go ahead. Kill me."
"Kill you?" He looks at the corpse of 2014 Dean. "Don't you think that would be a little...redundant?" Lucifer sighs. "I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this—shape. But it had to be your brother. It had to be." He reaches for Dean's shoulder. Dean moves back. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Dean. What do you think I'm going to do?"
"I don't know. Maybe deep-fry the planet?"
The devil examines a rose, but turns away. "Why? Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of God." Dean doesn't answer. "You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?"
He groans. "Oh, good God, you're not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach's almost out of bile."
"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created..." Lucifer smirks. "You. The little...hairless apes. And then he asked all of us to bow down before you—to love you, 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. Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially, when I was right? Look at what six billion of you have done to this thing, and how many of you blame me for it."
"You're not fooling me, you know that? With this sympathy-for-the-devil crap. I know what you are."
"What am I?"
"You're the same thing, only bigger. The same brand of cockroach I've been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego."
The devil smiles. "I like you, Dean. I get what the other angels see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon." He turns to walk away.
"You better kill me now!"
Lucifer turns back around. "Pardon?"
"You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And if I don't, Jamie will."
"Jamie?" Lucifer chuckles. "Oh yes, her. The Voice crying out in the desert. Only no longer. I silenced Jamie a long time ago." Dean grits his teeth together.
"She will kill you."
"She can't. She's not strong enough anymore. Out of curiosity did she tell you who the father of her baby was? I do hope you've guessed already, figured out why she was so inconsolable afterwards. I sent the vamps, you know. The second I knew her womb was fruitful, I baited her with a nestful of them. I wasn't going to chance a new vessel being born. The child of Jamie and-"
"Shut up! Shut the hell up! I will find a way. I won't stop."
"I know you won't. I know you won't say yes to Michael, either. I know you won't kill Sam. And I know Jamie's loyalty lies with you before anything else. Whatever you do, you will always end up here. Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up—here. I win. So, I win."
"You're wrong."
"See you in five years, Dean."
Thunder and lightning; Lucifer is gone. Dean turns around and sees Zachariah behind him, reaching for his forehead with two fingers.
Dean leans against the kitchenette sink. Zachariah stands in front of him. "Oh, well, if it isn't the ghost of Christmas screw you."
"Enough. Dean, enough. You saw it, right? You saw what happens. You're the only person who can prove the devil wrong. Just say yes."
"How do I know that this whole thing isn't one of your tricks? Huh? Some angel hocus-pocus?"
"The time for tricks is over. Give yourself to Michael. Say yes and we can strike. Before Lucifer gets to Sam. Before billions die." He considers this for a long moment, turning away from the angel. "Nah."
"'Nah'? You telling me you haven't learned your lesson?"
"Oh, I've learned a lesson, all right. Just not the one you wanted to teach."
"Well, I'll just have to teach it again! Because I got you now, boy, and I'm never letting you—" Dean disappears. "Son of a..."
Dean is now standing at the side of the road. He turns around and sees Castiel. "That's pretty nice timing, Cas."
"We had an appointment."
Dean puts a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Don't ever change."
"How did Zachariah find you?"
"Long story. Let's just stay away from Jehovah's Witnesses from now on, okay?"
Dean pulls out his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I should have done in the first place."
Dean waits by the Impala at a bridge. Another car pulls up. Sam gets out. A truck approaches and Jamie gets out. The siblings approach each other.
"Sam. Jamie." Dean greets his siblings.
"Cas is waiting for me." Jamie tells him. "I can't stay here long."
"It's alright. It's alright, Jamie. You're a sister, and you are apart of this too now."
She nods. "I'm in exile, for now."
Dean chuckles. "What I'm trying to say is, don't stay away. Not for long anyway. Help us hunt the devil."
"When we find a way to kill the devil, I'll be by your side."
They hug.
"And you." He turns to Sam and pulls out Ruby's knife. Sam looks at it nervously. Dean holds it out to him, handle first. "If you're serious and you want back in...you should hang on to this. I'm sure you're rusty." He takes the knife. He can't meet Dean's eyes. "Look, man, I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm...whatever I need to be. But I was, uh—wrong."
"What made you change your mind?"
"Long story. The point is...maybe we are each other's Achilles heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other, I don't know. I just know we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human."
"Thank you. Really. Thank you. I won't let you down." He looks at Jamie. "Either of you."
Jamie smiles.
"Oh, I know it. I mean, you are the second…"He pauses and looks at Jamie. "or third best hunter on the planet."
Sam nods. "So, what do we do now?"
Jamie looks up. "Call Cas."
"Right, and then we make our own future."
"Guess we have no choice."
"No. But we're in this together." Jamie holds her hand out. Dean and Sam put their hands over hers.