A/N: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you all like it! Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
The soft tapping of rain on asphalt and the occasional rumble of thunder were the only sounds in the alleyway. Dean and Cas were locked in a stare-down, green to blue, shocked to fatal. Unable to comprehend what Castiel had just said, Dean chuckled a little in disbelief. Cas' grip tightened further on the gun, his knuckles beginning to turn white. "Don't you dare laugh," he growled. Before Dean could reply, there was an eerie giggle that echoed through the alleyway. Cas' face paled and his eyes widened. "Oh...shit!" he yelled, his eyes searching wildly for an escape.
Dean, his entire body tense, whirled around and spotted an odd figure standing on the hood of what looked like an SUV. Lightning flashed, illuminating the monster's upside down face and backwards feet. "You have got to be kidding me," Dean muttered. The hunter was abruptly yanked by the arm and he found himself sprinting down the opposite end of the alleyway, Cas' hand clinging to Dean's jacket in a death-grip. "What is that thing?" Dean shouted as more howls broke through the silence of the night.
Cas didn't answer and kept running, his converse slapping furiously on the wet pavement. "This way! Hurry!" he said, practically dragging Dean around a corner. Dean almost slipped and stumbled back into the run. The hunter within was screaming at Dean to turn around and fight, but he knew that he had no weapon. Besides, one look at that fugly thing and even Dean could tell that his fists would be like annoying mosquitoes. The two raced down the streets as fast as they possibly could, but, judging from the inhumanly rapid tapping behind them, the monster was gaining on them. Dean shuddered; he did not want to see what that thing looked like while running.
"Where the hell are we going?" Dean said as Cas narrowly avoided a low hanging sign. Again, Cas didn't answer. Dean wanted to roar in frustration; the jackass was choosing now of all times to act like the angel? There was the sound of rushing wind then a tremendous boom came from behind them. The impact of whatever hit the road sent the two hunters flying forwards, each skidding against the concrete. Immediately, they turned and, if Dean hadn't been a hunter for most of his life, he would have shit his pants.
The monster in front of them was roughly about the size of a grown human man and was bent at an awkward angle. Its skin was the color of dried blood and it stared at Dean and Cas with empty eyes. "Dude, you look like the Grudge on fucking steroids," Dean quipped, shaking like a leaf. Cas pulled Dean to his feet and shoved the hunter behind him protectively. Surprised, Dean watched as the monster grinned maliciously, blood dripping from its teeth. "There is a building hidden behind an old grocery store down the block. I want you to run there as quickly as you can and find a man named Sam. Tell him where I am and that there's another Abarimon," Cas barked, his eyes never leaving the monster.
Dean felt a flare of indigence and stubbornly stood still. "There is no way I'm leaving you with this thing. It'll kill you, Cas," he said without thinking. Cas stiffened for a moment then uttered a low growl of annoyance. "Get your ass moving, damn you. I still haven't forgotten what you are, you fake. Either start running or I'll let 'ol Grudgey here have a taste of you," he said. Spinning on his heel, Dean ran. He didn't know if it was because of the monster eyeing him with its creepy, bulging white eyes or the dangerous note in Castiel's voice. Either way, Dean wasn't going to stick around any longer than he had to.
As he was running, Dean found himself looking back at Cas, worried. Castiel was circling the monster, a broad grin on his face and his gun held tightly in his hand. "Come on, ugly! I've had one hell of a day and you're just in time for my breaking point!" he shouted. Dean felt a laugh bubble in his chest and smiled. Focusing on his task, Dean spotted the grocery store. There were several small cat-like creatures lounging about in the parking lot. When Dean approached, they all shot up on their feet and swarmed towards him in a chorus of high-pitched noise of panic.
Dean ended up kicking most of them out of the way and barreled through the fleeing swarm. His skin burned and stung with what felt like a thousand tiny scratch marks. 'Great, just what I needed,' Dean thought. After Dean fought through a massive tangle of sharp brambles and ivy vines, Dean discovered a run-down house nestled under two willow trees. Dean rushed towards it, eager to see what this dimension's Sam looked like. As soon as the hunter reached the door, it swung open and there, in the doorway, stood Sam. He held a machete in one hand and his gun in the other.
"Holy crap, you need a haircut," was the first thing Dean blurted. This Sam was just as tall as the real one, but his hair went down past his shoulder blades and hung just above his collarbone in the front. A bushy beard barely covered a long, ugly scar that ran up the right side of Sam's jaw, stopping just below his temple. He wore a brown wool jacket and a grey shirt with Einstein's face on it. A pair of baggy, ripped jeans covered his long legs and his sneakers were just like the ones that the real Sam wore except red.
Dean didn't get a chance to say another word for Sam had him on the ground, knees pinning his hands to the grass, and the sharp edge of the machete pressed against his throat. Cold water seeped into the fabric of Dean's jeans, indicating that Sam had managed to throw Dean down into the only puddle in the whole area. Of course he did. "Who are you and why do you look my brother?" Sam snarled. His voice was deeper and more raspy than the Sam that Dean knew. Rolling his eyes, Dean snorted out an exasperated huff of annoyance; he just couldn't catch a break with these people.
"Look, I can explain everything later, but right now-,"
"Sam! I need your assistance at the moment!"
Dean and Sam both looked up as Cas came hurtling across the parking lot, shooting expertly at the monster behind him. "This isn't over, shifter," Sam growled. With a fierce grunt, Sam shoved himself off of Dean and hurried to Cas' aid. "Oh, yeah, I'll just lay here. Don't mind me," Dean muttered as he got to his feet. Looking around, Dean noticed that there was an excavator that had crashed into one of the walls of the grocery store. Reminding himself to question that later, Dean ran over to one of the trees leaning against the crumbling store wall. A sharp pain ran up his leg and, wincing, Dean looked down and finally spotted the dark stain creeping up his pant leg. "Shit. It turns out I did mess up my leg, after all. Perfect," he mumbled as he scaled the tree.
On the roof, Dean carefully picked his way through the rubble and tree limbs, finding the excavator's bucket wedged into the plaster. Ignoring the pain in his calf, Dean jumped and grabbed onto the machine, swinging down into the cab. He stared at the various controls, panicking for a moment. "What the hell am I doing?" he muttered as he flipped a random switch. Nothing happened. He heard yells and the howls of pain from outside and clenched his jaw determinedly. He randomly pressed buttons, flipped switches, and turned a small silver key. The machine abruptly roared to life, nearly giving Dean what could have been his second heart attack.
When Dean pulled down one of the levers, the arm of the machine swung upwards, slamming into what was left of the ceiling. He hit another button and the excavator jerked forwards then backwards. 'I'm going to give myself whiplash if I don't figure out how to work this thing,' Dean groaned internally. Frustrated, Dean slammed his hand down, hitting a red flashing button. An alarm blared through the rumble of the engine and Dean's eyes widened. "Son of a b-," was all he managed to say before the excavator went crazy. Roaring, the machine burst forward, sending Dean flying backwards out of the back window.
He rolled onto the pavement, glass shards sticking out of his skin, and lifted his head. The machine was charging at full speed towards the monster and the two hunters. "Sam! Cas! Watch out!" Dean shouted, trying to get to his feet. His leg refused to cooperate and he slumped to the ground again, wincing as glass cut into his skin. Thankfully, Cas and Sam seemed to have heard Dean over the screaming of the berserked excavator and the terrified howling of the monster. They leapt out of the way just in time as the machine crashed into the monster. It clawed at the cab, the arm of the machine slamming against its neck. The monster's backwards feet got caught under the shoe of the machine.
Dean had to look away from the gruesome sight, but he could still hear the crunching of bones and gurgling howls of the monster. After the machine had done its dirty work, it ironically decided to run out of gas and powered down. "How convenient," Dean muttered, gripping at his now very bloody leg. He heard running footsteps coming towards him and braced himself for another knife or gun to his throat. When nothing happened, Dean peeked open an eye. Cas and Sam were staring down at him, each with a different expression. Sam seemed like he was about to laugh, but he still had his guard up and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Cas, on the other hand, had an unreadable look on his face that made Dean's stomach twist.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked. Dean hadn't realized that he had been staring at Cas until he had to tear his eyes away to look at Sam. Or, at least, he tried to look at Sam. Darkness edged his vision and images blurred and spun disoriently in front of him. Sam seemed alarmed and reached out a hand to help. Dean couldn't hold himself up anymore and the last thing he saw was the pavement rushing towards him.
While Dean was killing mirror monsters, Sam- the real Sam Winchester- was panicking. After Dean had vanished into the mirror, Sam had frantically shot at the shadow creature with rock salt. It only seemed to irritate the being and it fled into the mirror's surface after Sam had chased it around the cavern for about an hour. Sam shouted and cursed and pounded at the mirror with his fists, but nothing happened. He had just slumped to his knees, clovers brushing against his jeans, when his cellphone rang. Without lifting his head, Sam answered.
"Hello?"
"Sam, I tried Dean's cell, but this lady tells me that his phone has no service. Are you two al-?"
"He's gone, Cas,"
The line went silent. The phone slowly slipped from Sam's loose grip and landed in the clovers with a soft thud. Sam pressed his forehead against the mirror's surface and clenched his fists on his thighs. There was the sound of fluttering wings and suddenly Cas was there. The angel knelt beside Sam and gripped him by the shoulders, shaking him. "What happened?" Cas growled. Sam could hear the intense worry underlying the anger in Cas' voice. He knew that the angel only had good intentions, but, in that moment, Sam just wanted to have his brother back. Biting his lip, Sam slammed a fist against the mirror, causing it to shudder.
Cas stopped shaking Sam and let go of him, hands trembling. He glared at the mirror then scrunched his face up in confusion. "This is...this is not what I had expected," Cas muttered. Sam jerked his head up, surprised. Castiel, frowning, circled the mirror, scanning the Chinese symbols. He ran his fingers over the frame and traced one of the symbols. His frown deepened. Sam scrambled to his feet and stood beside Cas.
"Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Is there any way you could take a photo of these symbols?"
Confused, Sam nodded and picked up his cellphone out of the clovers. Wiping away some of the dirt, Sam began snapping pictures of the Chinese symbols that were engraved on the mirror's frame. Cas, however, was staring intently at his reflection. The bottom of his trench coat brushed against the tops of the clovers. There was an unusual ache in his heart that grew the longer he stared at the shiny glass. It almost felt as though he was staring at someone, rather than something. Castiel tilted his head and squinted at his reflection in confusion; it seemed to be...rippling? It was like something had disrupted its smooth surface.
Shaking his head, Cas moved away from the mirror. An overwhelming sense of loss, rage, and desperation filled Castiel and he wanted to bolt right back to the mirror. He found this troubling, seeing as angels weren't meant to be able to feel anything. "Let us go see what we can find out about this so-called mirror, Sam," Cas said in an attempt to distract himself. Sam nodded and slipped his phone into his pocket. He splashed into the water and, after a moment of searching, found Dean's fallen gun.
He shook water from it and tucked it into the back of his jeans. He looked up to see Cas gazing at the mirror longingly and the angel's hands clenched into fists. "Cas?" Sam called out softly. Cas jerked, as though startled, and he quickly hurried over to Sam, his feet sending water sloshing everywhere. The angel placed a hand on Sam's shoulder then, after a feeling of weightlessness, Sam opened his eyes to find himself back in the bunker. When he went to speak, Cas held up a hand. "The Impala is outside. Don't worry," he grumbled, practically stalking his way over to the bookshelf.
Sam frowned; Castiel was suddenly very grumpy and seemed agitated. He noticed that Cas kept twitching his fingers and his eyes shifted anxiously. He was acting as though he missed something very important and he wanted to get back to it desperately. Before Sam could react, Cas was furiously ripping books from their shelves and flipping through them with blinding speed. "Cas...Cas! Stop, hey, you're going to rip them," Sam said. He crossed the room in a few strides and snatched a book from the angel's hands. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're acting weird," Sam said.
Castiel's eyes flashed and Sam was pinned to a nearby table before he could blink. When Sam gasped out a pained groan, Cas seemed to snap out of the trance he had been in. Releasing Sam's throat, he took a few steps back, fear and guilt washing over him. "I...I'm sorry, Sam. I don't know what came over me," he said quietly. Cas ducked his head and clenched his fists. Sam coughed and slowly sat up. The gears in his mind were turning overtime and he picked up one of the fallen books. Eyes narrowed in concentration, Sam flipped through the pages of the somewhat dusty book.
"Sam?"
"Don't worry about it, Cas. Keep looking,"
Cas lowered his eyes to the floor and vanished with the flutter of wings. Sam could hear him shuffling around the other side of the room. Sam sat down at one of the desks and placed the big book down in front of him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the pages of the book fluttering softly. He briefly looked up at the sound of Cas dropping a few books to the floor and smiled as the angel scrambled to pick them back up, muttering apologies to them. Sam felt his heart clench and realized that the bunker was too empty without his brother there. Sure, Cas was here, but it just wasn't the same.
"I'll get you out of there soon, Dean. Just hang in there a bit longer. For me and Cas both."
A/N: I really love how this story is going and I'm so happy so many have taken a liking to it. ^-^ I'll try to update sooner, but thanks for being so patient with me.