Q had been looking at his computer screen so long that his eyes just couldn't focus anymore. He took his thin framed glasses off and rubbed his eyes; he needed more tea. The portal had started to pulse and quiver a couple of hours ago and Q was sure that that was not a good sign and the reading only told him that he was right, he needed to be ready to act in case…what? In case it closed? There would be nothing he could do, he didn't even know how it worked, he was just monitoring it at this point.

"You need some sleep love," James commented from the corner where he and Lestrade were playing cards not too far from a plant he didn't know the name of, and wasn't entirely sure he'd ever seen before, "full house," he told the DI as he put his hand down on the plastic box they were using as a makeshift table.

"Ugh, I give up, you're just too good," Greg threw his cards down showing that he had a less than desirable hand.

"I just need some more tea," Q retorted stretching his lean body in the fold out chair he was sitting on and stifled a yawn.

"I'm just good at my job," Bond told Greg as he got up and crossed the small distance to Q, "no you need to relax," he rested his hands on Q's shoulders and began to massage them.

Q immediately deflated under James' firm hands letting them relieve some of the stress in his shoulders and neck as he closed his weary eyes. Then one of Q's machines beeped and the genius opened his eyes and promptly put his glasses back on. James removed his hands and leant over his lover's shoulder to see what the sharp noise had been about too.

Glancing over at the portal, Q hummed, he looked back at his reading and then at the portal again, "It's strengthened again!" he said in disbelief. The portal itself had stopped quivering and appeared to be as steady as when they had first seen it. He wondered idly if it had anything to do with whatever was happening on the other side.

"Maybe it fluctuates?" suggested Lestrade.

"No, it was slowly dying and now all of a sudden it's good as new," Q was amazed.

"Do we know why?" Mycroft asked as he strode through the doorway.

"No, it's nothing I did, however it could be something on the other side…" Q answered, he paused, his brain trying to make any connection it could to explain this, "Sherlock didn't mention what exactly they were doing over there, did he?"

"You know our brother; a man of many words but all of them cryptic," Mycroft sighed, whatever Sherlock and John were doing over there had better be important, and over soon or they might not make it back. He knew there was nothing they could do if this portal closed and that scared him; not being in complete control of a situation, and the potential of losing his brother.

Q rolled his eyes, yes, he knew how their brother could be, if John had sent the text they might actually have something to go on, "If this thing decides to close up, there's nothing I can do," he warned Mycroft. The brother's eyes met for a moment and they both knew how the other felt about that.

Behind them they heard a magazine being loaded into a gun and the slide of metal against metal as the chamber was loaded. Q and Mycroft turned to see Bond holding his gun, "Let's go see what's taking them so long then shall we?" he said holstering the gun under his jacket.

Q stood up and grabbed his boyfriend's arms, "No, double-oh seven, this is not your mission," what if James didn't come back? He couldn't risk losing a brother and a lover at the same time.

Bond began to protest but Mycroft spoke first, "Julian is correct, we do not need to risk anymore personnel, I'm certain Sherlock and John will return promptly."

"And what if they don't?" James argued, "What if they need help?"

James didn't get an answer however because the next moment a large grey growling beast came charging through the portal knocking Mycroft off his feet. The beast crashed into Q's computers and came to a halt but the sound of metal hitting the solid greenhouse floor startled it and it's clawed elongated hands scrabbled to get it moving again.

"Shit!" Q huffed.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Greg called out, his eyes wide in fear as he pushed himself back into a wall and trying to blend in with some fern like plants.

James already had his gun out and aimed at the creature, "Wound or kill?" he asked steadily as two men holding engraved sticks, and a mangy black dog came through the portal.

"Neither, we will deal with Remus," announced the older of the two, James recognised the look in his eyes and the worn expression on his face; this man had seen some shit.

"And who might you be?" Mycroft enquired, now back on his feet and recovered from his fall he moved away from the creature.

"People who are helping you get rid of a werewolf from your universe," the man told him with a tone that said he didn't have time for this.

"Werewolf?" Q repeated, "Interesting…"

Meanwhile, the black dog had circled around to the back of…the werewolf, who was standing still but snarling at them, at any moment he could attack and rip their throats out.

"Sorry about this," the younger man said pushing up his glasses, "he's usually a bit easier to deal with, but poor Remus has been through a lot tonight."

"He's not the only one," Q commented quietly. Fucking werewolves, what was next, the loch ness monster?

Remus launched at Bond suddenly and clawed his right shoulder before James could squeeze the trigger. The gun fell to the ground with a clang and blood began trickling down his arm, luckily it was just a scratch, nothing too deep or life threatening.

"Stupefy," two voices shouted and two bright blue lights hit the werewolf in the back of the head the moment it attacked Bond.

Remus snarled but appeared dazed and confused, the black dog charged at the beast and pushed him back towards the portal. The two strange men pointed their magic sticks at the werewolf's feet, sparks emitted from the ends causing the creature to growl and snap its jaws. Apparently it had had enough of this treatment though, because as quick as it had come, the beast was gone again back through the portal. The black dog immediately followed it through.

Everyone visibly relaxed, "Come, Harry," the older man said to the younger one and he too stepped back through the portal.

Harry followed him then turned back, "Don't worry, you won't turn into a werewolf, it's just a scratch. Sorry again," and then he was consumed by the light.

XXX

Tony ran through his anomaly, his feet hit the concrete floor of Avengers Tower and he almost barrelled straight into Natasha. He didn't even apologise, just corrected his footing and kept going.

"Where the hell have you been? Where's Bruce?" she questioned him immediately.

"No time to explain," he told her while he strode over to a blank wall and pushed in a specific panel, a section of wall opened and he input a code into a digital keypad which unlocked another section of wall that hid an Iron Man suit. Tony scanned his thumbprint for activation and the suit came to life; it's 'eyes' lit up and the suit stepped out of the wall and encased Tony," JARVIS, how're we looking?" he asked his computer servant and checked the display with his own eyes.

"Full power, everything is functioning as normal, sir," JARVIS advised.

"Good," Tony knew JARVIS would be cut off once he went back through the anomaly but he should still have power for the suit. Natasha stood with her arms crossed and her best shitty face on but Tony ignored her and just started back towards the anomaly; there was no time to waste, he didn't want them to hurt Bruce…or Bruce to hurt them.

"You're going back?" Nat asked him.

Even though she couldn't see his face, Tony still pulled an expression that said 'obviously' behind the Iron Man mask, "I've got to bring Bruce home," he explained, then added, "don't wait up," as he strode into the golden brightness.

"I could help," Nat offered, but it was too late; Tony had already disappeared.

Back on the other side, Tony immediately sought out Bruce, he was easy enough to spot; just look for the giant green guy ready to smash things.

The second thing he noticed was that Dean, Sam, John and Marcus were all standing around poor Bruce with their guns out and pointed at the big green guy. Apparently they had noticed, in fact everyone had, the only people not staring at Bruce were Merlin, Castiel and Gabriel who were concentrating on their mission to re-open an anomaly. Spock and Kirk also had their phasers trained on Bruce from a bit more of a distance, phasers only set to stun of course. Bruce, now Hulk, was not happy about this situation, he was roaring at them and stomping the ground with his powerful feet.

Immediately, Tony flew over to them and hovered in front of Bruce, he lifted the face mask of his suit so they could see it was him, "It'll be a lot better for everyone if you all put the guns away, Hulk doesn't like guns, they make him angry, and trust me, angry Hulk is not someone you want to be on the bad side of."

"You're telling me that Bruce is the freaking Hulk? Like from the comic books? And you're…?" Dean questioned sceptically.

"Iron man," Sam finished softly in disbelief, "he's Iron Man; another comic book character."

"Finally, some recognition, but yes, that's us," Tony acknowledged, "please put your guns down, he won't hurt anyone unless provoked."

Dean and Sam lowered their weapons first so John and Marcus followed suit at the same time as Spock and Kirk.

Tony turned in the air to face Hulk, "Hey big guy, they aren't gonna hurt you, wanna go home?"

Hulk looked past Tony at all the people who had just been threatening him and nodded, not taking his eyes off them, "Home," he agreed in a deep rumbling voice.

Home was so near but so far as at that moment Remus jumped back through Sherlock and John's anomaly followed closely by the black dog that was Sirius.

"Bloody hell," sighed Lucifer, preparing himself for another round of 'distract the werewolf.'

Derek went straight towards the growling werewolf, ready to try to subdue the creature again, it threw him aside with one strike of it's clawed hand, Derek hit the ground hard next to Castiel. Stiles rushed to his side and the angel wanted to help but knew that his task helping Merlin was more important. So far they had managed to give continuous strength to the existing anomalies, however the seventh one was proving to be even harder to reignite this time.

Merlin's whole body was shaking and there was a small trickle of blood coming from his right nostril. The angels had so much power, it was very taxing to have that power flow through him and then keep enough concentration to push it into the right energy veins and currents of the earth. Yellow yarrow flowers had sprung up between the wildflowers, but Arthur was the only one to observe them.

"Guys, how's that anomaly coming?" Dean called out never taking his eyes off of the werewolf that was stalking towards them; it seemed pretty pissed.

"They're doing their best, I'm sure it will happen any moment now," Arthur assured him, he answered for Merlin because he knew the wizard couldn't right now, he just hoped he was right.

Severus and then Harry appeared behind Remus from the anomaly, the werewolf turned it's head to snarl at them, "What happened?" Sherlock asked straightaway trying to hide the concern he felt for his brothers.

"Everyone is fine, just a bit shaken, one bloke, blonde haired guy, got scratched, but he'll be fine," Harry assured him.

The relief was evident in Sherlock's body language, out loud John murmured, "Thank god."

"As soon as Merlin gets the anomaly open, we need to get you four through as quickly as possible," Nick told Severus and Harry as they backed up away from the approaching beast, "and then the rest of us should head through our own anomalies as well, I would wager that it won't be long before they close once Merlin stops strengthening them," he said loud enough to make sure everyone heard. He couldn't believe how casually he was talking about magic and werewolves.

Of course everyone was in agreement, no one wanted to be stuck in the wrong universe, no matter how nice their new friends were.

Tony decided he probably had the best chance right now in his suit, he lowered his mask and flew over everyone behind the werewolf, he tried to 'bear hug' it from behind to keep Remus still, but the werewolf thrashed and snapped his jaws trying to get to Tony.

Hulk didn't like that, "Hulk help!" he cried and ran towards the pair, Stephen, Lucifer, Stiles, Rose and Sam only just moved aside before the green giant knocked them out of the way on his mission to help Tony.

Tony let go as enormous green arms wrapped around Remus and easily brought him to the ground, Hulk basically laid out on top of the snarling werewolf that was trying to bite and scratch him. A werewolf was no match for the incredible strength of the Hulk though.

There was unanimous relief once it became clear that the werewolf had been subdued. Tony patted Hulk's shoulder, "Good job buddy, stay there for a few minutes okay."

Hulk nodded, he had one hand around the werewolf's jaws to stop it from trying to bite him, but it couldn't stop the growling coming from it's throat.

Sirius became human once more, he looked rather worse for wear, most of them did really, bruises already blooming on his body. He leant on Harry a little for support, his eyes, which shone with sadness, never left Remus as he spoke, "We appreciate your help, I'm sorry you haven't had a chance to see Remus on a good day, he is quite a remarkable man."

"Give him our best when he's…himself again," Stephen said sincerely.

Sirius nodded his promise and then everyone turned in awe as the Doctor remarked, "Merlin's done it!"

Once again there were seven anomalies shining brightly in the clearing, "That's our cue," Severus announced and gripped Harry's hand, he was not risking them getting separated. The three men strode the short distance to their own anomaly and stopped in front of it to face the rest of the group that had followed them.

"C'mon big guy, it's time to take him home," Tony told Hulk and motioned for him to bring Remus along too.

Hulk moved faster than anyone else and reached the anomaly just after Harry, Severus and Sirius. Tony flew behind Hulk just in case.

"Goodbye," Sirius said and then he was a big black dog once again, he turned and jumped through the anomaly.

Severus tugged on Harry's hand, "Thank you everyone, thank you Merlin for helping us to return home. It was lovely to meet you all, goodbye!" Harry said hurriedly as Severus pulled him towards and through the anomaly. The last they saw of the young man was his waving hand disappearing into the light.

Without being told, Hulk stood half way into the anomaly and quickly released Remus before stepping out and moving away.

As soon as everyone was clear, Dean called out, "Alright, Merlin, let it close!"

Merlin released the energy from the seventh anomaly and in his mind he could see it extinguish and fade away from existence. He held on to the other six though, he knew they would soon grow weak if he let them go as well, and he wouldn't be strong enough to make the connection again, if it wasn't for the angels' power he didn't think he'd have been able to hold on this long.

"Just a little longer, Merlin, I know you can do it," Arthur uttered gently, he had total faith in his partner.

It was as if everyone knew what had to come now, but they were reluctant to leave their new found friendships. The group was full of shy sideways glances and foot scuffing and the clearing of throats. It was hard to leave when they all knew they could never return, hard to say goodbye to people they would never see again.

Sam cleared his throat, "Uh, before you all go, I just wanted to thank y'all for your help, I know it was a big ask and this has been pretty crazy for a lot of you, but we appreciated the team effort. We hope you all get home safely and have good lives, it was really great to meet y'all."

There was a short burst of applause and whistling, not for Sam alone, but for themselves and the whole group; Sam was right, it had been a pretty crazy time.

Unenthusiastically, Tony touched Hulk's arm and announced, "Well, I guess it's time I get the big guy home."

Nick and Stephen made their way through the group, and each in turn held out their right hand to Tony, "It was a pleasure, Tony," Stephen told him.

"You never know, we may meet again one day," Tony smirked and shook both their hands with his metal covered one.

"Tell Bruce 'thank you and it was great to talk to another scientist such as himself,'" Nick told Tony.

"Bye Bruce friends," Hulk blurted out.

Tony smiled at the big green man, "I think he got the message," he assured Nick, "well, better go…" Tony and Hulk walked to their anomaly, Hulk waved at the group, they waved back and then he went through the shimmering light, "Bye everyone, thanks for the adventure," the next moment he was gone too.

Before they could procrastinate any further, and they had to remember Merlin was still working to keep the anomalies open, Lucifer skipped over to his anomaly followed by Marcus and announced, "Friends, this has been a peculiar but entertaining time, hopefully I don't see any of you in hell, ciao."

"Nice working with you all, take care," Marcus added, and they walked through the anomaly together.

Spock turned to Kirk, his hands clasped behind his back, "Captain, I believe we should return now, Dr McCoy is not going to be happy that we have left him on that planet for so long."

Jim grimaced, he had almost forgotten about Bones waiting for them on the deserted planet they had come from; he was going to be so mad. He thought about all the hypos he was going to receive just from being somewhere foreign, and how 'nicely' Bones was going to administer them as punishment. Jim sighed, "You're right Spock, we'd better not put it off any longer. Glad we could be of assistance, and what a time we had, Goodbye."

Spock made the ta'al with his right hand, "Live long and prosper."

They too left through their anomaly, the group was quickly dwindling and John decided he and Sherlock should go home next, "Come on, Sherlock, you know Mycroft is going to want an extensive report, the sooner we start, the sooner he'll let us go home. Plus we should check that James is alright."

Sherlock rolled his eyes, John's words were annoyingly true, "Yes, alright, John," and he just stormed off and through his anomaly without as much as a goodbye.

"Sorry about him, he's brilliant, just also an idiot. Wonderful to meet you all, better go, bye," John rushed to say and then he took off after his partner.

There were only two pairs left to return through the anomalies now, "I guess that just leaves us, before Merlin and Arthur," Stephen stated, "at least you guys know what to expect if this ever happens again."

"Always be cautious, and try to not get stuck in a place that isn't your own, speaking from experience on that one," Nick warned them and handed Dean his torch back.

"We were just lucky you guys dropped in," Dean acknowledged putting it into one of his pockets.

"Glad we could help, stay safe guys," Nick smiled and gripped Stephen's hand in his own.

They marched over to their anomaly and then Stephen thought of something, he searched in his bag for a moment before he pulled out a device about the size of his hand and chucked it to Dean, "Anomaly detection device, just in case," he explained with a wink and then Stephen and Nick went home.

Dean examined the gadget while Sam went over to Merlin, Arthur and the angels, "It's your turn to go home now guys," he said to Merlin and Arthur.

Merlin was still shaking and there were droplets of blood in the grass from his dripping nose bleed, the red stood out on the blades of green. He slowly withdrew his golden magic and the angels blue power from the currents and veins of the earth. He became less aware of everything around him until he had completely disconnected himself from the earth and then separated himself magically and physically from the two angels. Merlin gasped when he became just himself again and Arthur caught him in his arms as the wizard collapsed unconscious. His torch was forgotten in the grass.

Immediately the anomalies started to quiver, "You guys need to go now," Sam told them, urgency in his voice.

Arthur nodded and picked Merlin up in his arms and carried him across to the furthest anomaly, "Your kindness and friendship will never be forgotten, I wish you all well for the future, goodbye."

"Please give Merlin our deepest gratitude for what he did here today. It was an honour to meet you both," Sam bowed to Arthur, and Dean nodded his farewell.

Gabriel, who was less drained than Castiel caught up to the king and his servant before they could leave, he put two fingers to Merlin's forehead, they briefly glowed white before Merlin opened his eyes. Arthur smiled at him and whispered, "Let's go home."

Once the pair was gone, the Doctor stretched and bumped Rose with his elbow, "Well, I think our work here is done, back to the pool?"

"Sounds good, maybe another cocktail with dinner also," she proposed with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, I like the way you think, we should pick up Jack too, he's always up for cocktails," the Doctor added.

"I guess you two are off then?" Dean questioned as he checked over Cas (worrying boyfriend, who, him?).

"Indeed, we are, but it was quite the day out, and if you need us again, I'm sure we'll find you, cherrio!" the Doctor replied and then kissed Rose, "Cocktails await."

She laughed, "Lovely meeting you all, bye," and they walked hand in hand back into the forest to the TARDIS that was waiting patiently for them to come home.

As the couple walked away, the anomalies began to shake and pulse as if they were about to burst, and then just like that they were gone, and the six remainders were left with just the fading moonlight and a few torches.

"We'll be off then," Stiles said awkwardly, it was just him and Derek left with the hunters now.

"Do you guys need a lift somewhere?" Sam offered sincerely.

Dean gave his brother a look that said 'you're really offering a werewolf a lift?'

Stiles glanced at Derek, "I mean I am exhausted…you're not going to kill us though, are you?"

"No, no, I promise, just a lift, what do you say?" Sam assured them.

XXX

Stiles' jeep came into view as they reached the end of the road, Castiel and Gabriel had opted to teleport back to the hotel to wait for the brothers while they took Stiles and Derek home. The werewolf and teenager had sat in the back and the four of them had been mostly quiet except for Stiles fidgeting with the seatbelt and giving directions.

Dean pulled up next to the jeep and put the Impala in 'park', he turned in his seat to face his two backseat passengers, "You two keep your noses clean, if I hear of anything that even remotely sounds like a werewolf killing in this area, we will be back, do I make myself clear?"

Stiles gulped, "Yup, can we go now?"

"Crystal," Derek grumbled in reply.

"Yeah, stay safe guys, and," Sam handed Stiles one of his fake FBI contact cards, "give us a call if you need anything."

"Uh, thanks, bye," Stiles and Derek retreated from the car as quickly as they could without seeming intimidated.

Once the pair was on the porch of the old house, Dean turned the car around and they drove back through the woods. The first hint of dawn was obvious as they hit the main road back to the hotel. The dull orange glow invaded the darkness on the horizon and became brighter and brighter the longer they drove. Baby blue and rose pink mixed with the orange the closer the sun came to rising, and the Winchesters were too deep in thought and mesmerized by the colourful sunrise to speak.

Finally, the Impala was pulled into a parking space, the gravel crunching under the tyres, Dean put it into 'park' and turned the engine off. He and Sam exited the car at the same time, but Dean spoke first, "We'll get in a few hours of shut eye, grab a bite and then head home."

"Yep," Sam yawned, he was exhausted, "see you in a few hours," and he knocked on the door for Gabriel to let him in.

Dean stayed put for a moment, he just stared at his car and thought about what a crazy case it had been, they had been on some crazy cases, saved the world a handful of times, been to hell and met God but this case was certainly up there in the weirdest. And now it was like it had never happened at all. Dean shook his head and took a deep breath has he grinned; 'just another day in the life' he thought.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Hey guys, so that was the end of the main storyline, however I still have a few more 'bonus' chapters to share with you, stay tuned ;)

ta'al : a hand gesture/salute performed by Vulcans as a greeting or farewell.

much love xox