Hi All!
Hope you enjoy this new chapter. I don't have a beta any more so I am a bit nervous about this upload so please review and tell me what you think! I am still a bit unsure how to end this but so far the best sounding one does not end happily so maybe another sequel? No promises because I might just end it on a incredibly sad note :D.
Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. Reviews keep me writing!
Chapter 7
Buffy lead Dean and her squad out of town, gripping Dean tightly the whole time. They came to a large tent, pushing Dean inside.
"Woah there, sweetheart. I'm not the one you got beef with. Well I am, but not me me."
"Right, like you're any better," Buffy replied, handcuffing Dean to a nearby trunk. Dean tried to tug his arm to find the trunk to be weighted to the ground.
Buffy smiled at his attempt while silently taking a seat across from him. She sat there for five long minutes, never taking an eye off him, but not making a sound.
"You're just going to sit there and stare at me?" Dean asked, annoyed.
Buffy leaned forward, placing her arms on her knees while she stared intently at him. "How stupid do you think I am? We both know that the moment my back it turned, you'll wiggle your way out of those cuffs and back to your duplicate."
Dean snorted his laughter, smiling at her, "you know me too well, blondie."
Buffy leant back into her seat, watching Dean silently.
Finally Dean couldn't help himself, "what happened?"
Buffy instantly looked confused, "you're gunna have to expand that question, sport."
"What happened between you and future me? I know I was a jerk the last time I saw you, but this is different."
"When was the last time you saw me? In your time?"
"The motel. The night you met Castiel."
Buffy looked shocked and barked out a bitter laugh, "you call that you being a 'jerk'?" she replied bitingly, "I call that you being the biggest scum bag on earth. But ya know, that's just me."
"So that's all? That's why you hate each other"
Reluctantly Buffy replied, "no, that's not all."
"So what?"
Buffy didn't reply, just continued to watch.
"C'mon Buff, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here."
Buffy was quiet a moment more before sighing and replying, "A couple of months after we spoke at the motel, I found Dawn. But I was too late. They had started the ritual. I had one moment to kill her before Lucifer took over. But I couldn't do it. I was too weak. I couldn't kill my baby sister." Dean saw the look of pain and regret in her face.
"We managed to get out, Faith, Spike and me, but it didn't take Lucifer long to gain hold. He killed everyone. Blew up every institute. Only some made it out. Willow, and some of the girls. Everyone else died. Xander, Giles, Andrew. All dead."
"Oh God, Buff. I'm sorry." Dean croaked out.
Buffy laughed bitterly, looking down at the table, "really? Because after that Lucifer went after you. Or him or whoever. He killed everyone you ever knew, ever cared about. They finished with Bobby. You guys had started up your little camp by then but Bobby didn't get here quick enough."
She looked back up at him, "understand why he hates me now? If I had killed Dawn, none of this would have happened."
"I don't hate you." He said in reply, barely above a whisper.
Buffy scoffed, "yeah, I musta meant a lot, with the send-off you gave me."
"No Buffy, you don't understa-"
Before he could finish, Spike came into the tent, "he's come for a trade, love."
Buffy got up and uncuffed Dean, dragging him outside.
Future Dean was waiting for them, obviously pissed off. "It's not your sister anymore, Buff. It's just him. This is the only way to end all of this."
"You're wrong," she replied stubbornly, "there's another way."
"There's no other God damned way!" He shouted in frustration, "this gun is our only chance!"
"Yeah, and what if it was Sam? Huh? Would you be so gung-ho to pull the trigger if it was your sibling instead of mine?"
"I'd do what I'd have to do," he replied quietly, "this has gone on long enough."
Buffy looked shocked, "I don't even know you anymore." She shook herself out of her stupor. "Give me the gun, Dean."
Dean sighed and held out the gun to Spike who grabbed the gun as Buffy pushed Past Dean towards his doppelganger.
Dean quickly turned and led his team and his past self away.
Buffy watched them retreat quietly, before walking back into her tent. Spike and her officers followed closely behind.
She looked at the maps and paperwork on the desk before addressing them, "contact Willow and tell her we have the gun. We don't know if the spell will work bu-"
"Buf," Spike said quickly, cutting her off, "this ain't the gun. He handed us a bloody copy."
Buffy swore before running outside her tent, "everyone, on the move, NOW!"
"Move! We've got about 10 minutes until she figures it out." Future Dean ordered, pushing his past self into a nearby car.
"Woah, slow down, what's happening?" Past Dean asked.
"He gave the Slayer a fake," Castiel explained, more aware than he had been the whole time Past Dean had been in the future.
Both Deans got into car, with Castiel riding in the back.
"Do you really think it's a good idea for your past self to accompany us? If anything happens to him, it could have disastrous effects on you," Castiel commented from the back.
"He needs to see this. Zach will look after him."
"See what? Dawn?"
"Yeah, sure." Future Dean replied evasively.
"Why do I need to see her like that? I don't want to see her like that!"
"Too fricken bad!" You need to see how bad it gets," Future Dean responded angrily. He took a moment to calm himself before continuing. "Zach said he was going to bring you back, right? To '09?"
"Yeah"
"Well, when you get back home, you say 'yes'. You hear me? Say 'yes' to Michael."
"That's crazy. If I let him in, then Michael fights the devil. The battle's gonna torch half the planet."
"Look around you, man." Future Dean replied, having his arm at the destruction around them. "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?"
"I've tried! I've shouted 'yes' till I was blue in the face! The angels aren't listening! They just—left—gave up! It's too late for me, but for you—"
"Oh, 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." Future Dean paused, looking at his past self before sighing and finishing, "But you won't. 'Cause I didn't. Because that's just not us, is it?"
There was quiet in the car for a while before Future Dean spoke, "All of this could be different. For us. And for Buffy."
At her name, Past Dean turned his head in Future Dean's direction, "I thought you didn't give a shit about Buffy."
"Tried not to. Thought it would be easier to off Dawn if I didn't give a shit about her. I guess it doesn't work that way."
Past Dean thought about that for a while before mumbling, "guess not."
The Deans, Castiel, and their soldiers arrived at their destination in the middle of the day. The bright sun seemed to amplify the destruction and desolation of the Hot Zone. Surveying the area, Future Dean points to a nearby building.
"There. Second-floor window. We go in there."
"Dawn's in there?" Past Dean asked.
"No," his future counterpart replied in annoyance, "Lucifer is"
"Are you sure about this?" Risa asks, from behind them.
"They'll never see us coming. Trust me. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five," Future Dean replies.
Past Dean watched the exchange with interest, "hey, uh, me. Can I talk to you for a sec?"
Future Dean moves away, with Past Dean following along.
Past Dean's voice drops to a dulled whisper, "tell me what's going on."
"What?" Future Dean asks in mock confusion.
"I know you. You're lying to these people and to me."
"Is that so."
"Yeah." Past Dean replies, starting to get annoyed at the evasive answers, "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."
"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."
"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."
"You mean you're gonna feed your friends into a meat grinder? Cas, too? You want to use their deaths as a diversion?"
"That surprises you?" a disgusted familiar voice questions near them.
The Deans whip around to see Buffy and her squad behind her.
"Crap," Future Dean answers.
"So that's your plan, send your friends in for a fire fight while you go mano a mano with the Devil? How do you think that's going to end, Dean?" Buffy asked exasperated. The remainder of her squad had joined Dean's squad, ready to take on any demons in between them and Lucifer.
Her
"Badly for them, better for all of us," He replied in anger.
Past Dean speaks up for the first time since Buffy's arrival, "Oh, man, something is broken in you. You're making decisions that I would never make. I wouldn't sacrifice my friends."
Ignoring Buffy's scoff in disagreement, Future Dean replies, "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."
Buffy interrupts any reply Past Dean was about to make, "No. Not like this, you're not. I'm not gonna let you."
"Yeah, I figured," Future Dean replied sadly. Without warning, he raises the butt of his gun and hits her in the temple, knocking her unconscious.
"What the hell!" Past Dean yelled in reply.
Future Dean ignores him as he kneels down to caress Buffy's face. Tracing the scars that weren't there the last time they saw each other. His fingers trailed down until they were cupping the side of her face. Leaning down, he places a chaste kiss on her temple, whispering a soft sorry.
Past Dean looked at the exchange with sadness.
As if being caught, Future Dean springs up and into action. He softly moves Buffy's unconscious body into a group of bushes, concealing her.
"Alright, army brats, you move with my guys into the front, Buffy is coming with us into the back," Future Dean shouts to the group, his authoritative voice putting them into action.
"You can't do this," Past Dean urges, looking down at Buffy.
Future Dean sighs before slugging Past Dean into unconsciousness.
Dean wakes before Buffy, having taken a lighter hit. He groans and stumbles over to her.
"Buffy, wake up," he says as he shakes her.
Slowly, Buffy comes into consciousness. Her awareness comes to her not long after her consciousness, "asshole!" she yells, rubbing her temple.
Dean scoffs before urging her up, "c'mon."
Hearing gunfire, they run towards it, coming into a manicured backyard. Dean and Buffy stop suddenly, seeing Future Dean on the ground, a white shoe holding him down by the head. Future Dean opens his eyes and looks at Buffy, he mumbles her name as the white shoe shifts audibly snapping Future Dean's neck.
Buffy gasps, hands covering her mouth.
Past Dean's eyes are on the owner of the white shoe.
"Sam?"
The figure in white turns to look at the two intruders, "oh hello, Dean. Buffy."
"You're him, aren't you?" Buffy demands angrily, "I can feel it."
"Yes," Lucifer replies, smiling Sam's smile.
"Where's Dawn?!" Buffy yells, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Dead. Well, her body is dead. Her soul was destroyed the moment I took residence."
"Her body. Where is her body?"
Lucifer sighed sadly, "that was unfortunate. It was meant to be the perfect vessel, but without Dawn's essence to keep it together, the body soon began to deteriorate. Once the key essence inside of her was destroyed, the magic that kept the body intact began to dissipate."
"You killed her for nothing," Buffy replied with gritted teeth.
"Oh not at all," He replied with a smile, "her rotting body was what made Sam say yes."
Buffy made a sound of complete anguish before launching herself at Sam/Lucifer. With a quick wave of his hand, Lucifer had Buffy knocked to the ground. Lucifer made his way towards her before Past Dean's guttural "No!" stopped him.
Lucifer slowly turned to Dean, "Aren't you a surprise."
The sound of thunder caught Dean's attention, as Lucifer appeared behind him, causing Dean to jump.
"You've come a long way to see this, haven't you?"
Dean squares his shoulders, "well, go ahead. Kill me."
"Kill you?" Lucifer looks toward the corpse of Future Dean, "don't you think that would be a little...redundant?" Lucifer sighs before continuing. "I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this—shape. But it had to be your brother. It had to be."
Moving towards Dean, Lucifer considers something, "actually no, I originally wanted Buffy." He looks towards her struggling body, still pinned to the ground, "but I feel like she would have been harder to obtain." He finishes with a chuckle, as if he has some sort of inside joke.
Lucifer reaches for Dean's shoulder, as Dean steps out of reach. "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?" Dean replies angrily.
Lucifer lazily walks to the garden, and examines a rose, but quickly turns back to Dean. "Why? Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of God."
Dean choses to be quite, rather than humouring the monster taking residence in his brother's body.
"You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?" Lucifer eventually asks.
"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," Dean replies aggressively.
"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."
Lucifer smiles at Dean's speech, "I like you, Dean. I get what the other angels see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon."
As Lucifer turns to walk away, Dean yells, "you better kill me now!"
"Pardon?"
"You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And I won't stop."
"I know you won't. I know you won't say yes to Michael, either. And I know you won't kill Sam, or Buffy, or Dawn. 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."
The last thing Dean saw was Lucifer turning his attention towards Buffy, as Zachariah raises two fingers to Dean's temple.
Dean leans against the kitchen sink, staring at Zachariah. "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."
Dean leans forward, "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."
Dean considers this for a long moment, turning away from Zachariah, "nah."
Zachariah stares at him incredulously. "'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 turns to find himself on an empty road, facing Castiel and a disorientated Sam, "that's pretty nice timing, Cas."
"We had an appointment."
Dean puts a hand on Castiel's shoulder, "don't ever change."
"What's going on?" Sam asks confused. Dean chuckles as he replies, "I'll tell you soon."
"How did Zachariah find you?" Castiel asks briskly.
"Long story. Let's just stay away from Jehovah's Witnesses from now on, okay?" Dean replies, as he takes out his phone
"What are you doing?" Castiel asks.
"Something I should have done in the first place."
so the fanfic website tends to remove my sections, so I hope i fixed them correctly. my apologies if i do not, but hopefully it still makes sense. again, please review!