Chapter 16
Sarah woke up to the feel of something digging into her back. Looking around her surroundings, she found that she was no longer in her motel room. She was in a rundown room with no mattress. She headed outside to see that the whole town was destroyed. As she explored she saw the word 'Croatoan' written on a nearby wall.
'Oh crap.' She thought.
Just then something caught her eye. She looked over and saw a group of infected zombie like people stalking her. She ran quickly in the other direction until she ran into something. Looking up she saw it was Dean.
"Dean?"
"Sarah? What's going on?" he asked just as confused as her. Just then several soldiers and tanks arrived and started to shoot the infected people. "Come on." He said, leading her to cover in a nearby alley. They managed to break through a fence that was surrounding the city and escaped.
Once outside they saw a sign that said,
'Croatoan Virus Hot Zone
No Entry
By Order of Acting Regional Command
August 1, 2014
Kansas City'
"August 1, 2014?" Dean mumbled.
"What the hell?" Sarah whispered.
They found a car that they could hot wire and started to drive away from the city. They tried using their cellphones and the radio only to get nothing.
"That's never a good sign." Dean mumbled.
"Croatoan pandemic reaches Australia." Zachariah said from the back seat, startling both Dean and Sarah.
"I thought I smelled your stink on this Back to the Future crap." Dean spat.
"'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." Zachariah stated, reading from a newspaper.
"How did you find me?" Dean asked.
"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."
"The Bible freak outside the motel—he, what, dropped a dime on me?" Dean asked.
"Onward, Christian soldiers." Zachariah teased.
"But I haven't seen anyone like that recently." Sarah stated.
"Oh, sweetheart…" Zachariah chided not answering the question.
"Okay, well, good, great. You have had your jollies. Now send me back, you son of a bitch." Dean growled.
"Oh, you'll get back—all in good time. We want you to marinate a bit."
"Marinate?" Dean and Sarah asked.
"Three days, Dean. Three days to see where this course of action takes you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.
"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." Zachariah said before vanishing.
"Ahh! I really hate him!" Sarah growled.
They pulled up to Bobby's house and slowly walked in.
"Bobby? Bobby. I'm coming in!" Dean yelled as they started to look around.
The place was thoroughly trashed, and it was clear nobody had been there in a while.
"Oh, no." Dean said walking over to Bobby's overturned wheelchair.
"Are those bullet holes?' Sarah asked in a whisper.
Dean righted the chair. "Where is everybody, Bobby?" Dean said to the air. He then walked over and opened a hidden compartment and pulled out his dad's journal. He also found a picture of Bobby and Cas with three other men next to a sign.
"Camp Chitaqua." Dean read.
Sarah wiped her eyes and took the picture from Dean. "Let's go find some answers." She said.
A while later, they crept up to the sign in the picture. They saw men with guns inside the fence patrolling. The stay out of sight until Dean spotted his Impala, smashed up and rusted.
"Oh, baby, no." he whispered, then started to move toward it.
"Dean! Leave it!" Sarah whispered after him but he was already at the car. Sarah stayed hidden and started looking around to make sure the coast was clear. When she turned back Dean was gone.
"Dean?" she whispered but all she found was silence.
She slunk around in the shadows trying to find Dean. She had been searching for a while, having to take cover a few times, when she spotted Dean walking to a vehicle with a couple of other guys. She was about to run out to rescue him when she got a good look at his face. It had a very hard expression. Everything about him was different. This was not her Dean. She backed up further in the shadows, but backed up too quickly and slipped, falling back on a rock and loosing consciousness.
She woke up a while later and stood up slowly, rubbing her head, trying to remember what was going on. She walked out of her hiding place looking around.
"Hey! Who are you?" An angry woman yelled pointing a gun at her.
"I'm Sarah. I'm just looking for my friend, Dean."
The woman looked Sarah up and then lead her over to a small group of people. When they got close she heard Dean say, "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." The small crowd dispersed and Sarah was able to see both Future Dean and her Dean.
"Sir, I found this girl wandering around." The angry woman said, "She says she's your friend."
Both Dean's looked over at her, but Future Dean's face held nothing but shock.
"Sir?" the woman said again, sharply.
Future Dean snapped out of his trance and said, "I'll take care of her." Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her to one of the cabins. Past Dean followed close behind.
"Hey. It's really her. Don't hurt her." Past Dean said once they were at the cabin.
"He's speaking the truth. Her aura's pure." Cas said.
"Give us a minute, guys." Future Dean said before taking Sarah inside and locking the door.
"What's going on?" She asked warily as Future Dean returned his gaze to her. "You're scaring me."
He removed his hand from her arm and placed both of his hands on either side of her face. "Is it really you?" he asked.
"Yeah… well me from 2009… what's going on, Dean? You look like you haven't seen me in a while… What happens to me?" she asked starting to panic. He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. "Dean?" she asked again before he pulled her in for an earth shattering kiss. At first, Sarah stood there in shock before her own longing took over and she started to kiss him back. He pulled her as close as he physically could. After a few moments Sarah pushed him away. "Wait… wait… tell me what is wrong…"
Future Dean looked at her then said, "It's just been so long…"
She was about to speak again when the door opened. Past Dean walked in as Future Dean moved away from Sarah.
"What the hell is going on?" Past Dean asked.
Future Dean advanced on Past Dean and asked, "What the hell was that out there?"
"What the hell was that? You just shot a guy in cold blood." Past Dean questioned back.
"We were in an open quarantine zone. Got ambushed by some Croats on the way out." Future Dean said then added, "Croats. Croatoans. One of them infected Yeager."
"How do you know?" Past Dean asked as he eyed Sarah, who just stood there as if in a trance.
"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."
The Deans talked for a bit more, but Sarah tuned them out. Lost in her thoughts. She stayed quiet until Future Dean left the cabin to gather his team.
"Hey. You alright?" Past Dean asked shaking her slightly.
Sarah slowly looked up at Dean. "He… I… Dean, I don't think I'm alive any more…"
"What? Did he tell you that?"
"No… but… he… he kissed me…"
"He what?" Dean said with a hint of anger.
"He kissed me like he hadn't seen me in a very long time."
Before Past Dean could say anything, Future Dean walked in with Cas and a girl.
"So, that's it? That's the colt?" the girl Riza, said with a bit of attitude.
"If anything can kill Lucifer, this is it." Future Dean stated.
"Great. Have we got anything that can find Lucifer?" Riza asked with even more attitude.
"Are you okay?" Future Dean asked sensing something was wrong.
"Oh, we were in, uh, Jane's cabin last night. And, apparently, we and Riza have a connection." Past Dean filled in.
"You want to shut up?" Future Dean warned.
"Ha. You never change do you?" Sarah said. Future Dean gave her a look, filled with pain and regrets.
"We don't have to find Lucifer. We know where he is. The demon that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew." Future Dean said.
"So, a demon tells you where Satan's gonna be, and you just believe it?" Riza asked skeptically.
"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying." Future Dean said.
"And you know this how?" Riza asked.
"Our fearless leader, I'm afraid, is all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth." Cas said.
"Torture? Oh, so, we're… we're torturing again?" Past Dean asked. "No, that's… that's good. Classy."
Castiel started to laugh and Future Dean glared at him. "What? I like past you."
"Lucifer is here. Now. I know the block and I know the building." Future Dean stated.
"Oh, good—it's right in the middle of a hot zone." Castiel said.
"Crawling with Croats, yeah. You saying my plan is reckless?" Future Dean asked.
"Are you saying we, uh, walk in straight up the driveway, past all the demons and the Croats, and we shoot the devil?" Castiel asked.
"Yes." Future Dean said simply.
"Okay, if you don't like, uh, 'reckless', I could use 'insouciant', maybe." Castiel joked.
"Are you coming?" Future Dean asked.
Castiel sighed then said, "Of course. But why is he? I mean, he's you five years ago. If something happens to him, you're gone, right?"
"He's coming. They're both coming." Future Dean stated gruffly.
"Okay. Well, uh. I'll get the grunts moving." Castiel said getting up.
"We're loaded and on the road by midnight." Future Dean commanded.
"All righty." Castiel said turning to leave. He stopped at Sarah and said, "It is good to see you again." Then he pulled her into a hug.
"Uh… thanks Cas…" Sarah said after he released her. He then left the cabin followed by Riza, who gave Sarah another really nasty look when she walked passed.
"Why are you taking us?" Past Dean asked.
"Relax. You'll be fine. Zach's looking after you, right?" Future Dean said.
"No, that's not what I mean. I want to know what's going on." Past Dean demanded then added, "Start with what happened to Sarah."
"What about her?" Future Dean asked. Past Dean just stared at him. "She's not here because she's dead. Died trying to take on Lucifer herself."
Past Dean looked over at Sarah who looked shocked. "Why would I try to do something that stupid?"
Future Dean looked uncomfortable but decided not to answer.
"Alright. Tell me what's going on now. Why do you want us there?" Past Dean said.
"You're coming because I want you to see something. I want you to see our brother." Future Dean stated.
"Sam?" Sarah asked confused.
"I thought he was dead." Past Dean said causing Sarah's eyes to widen.
"Sam didn't die in Detroit. He said 'yes'." Future Dean said.
"'Yes'?" Past Dean asked then after a long silence, said, "Wait. You mean—"
"That's right. The big 'yes'. To the devil. Lucifer's wearing him to the prom." Future Dean said.
"Why would he do that?" Past Dean asked.
"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." Future Dean explained.
"What do you mean?" Past Dean asked.
"Zach said he was gonna bring you back, right? To oh-nine?" Future Dean asked.
"Yeah." Past Dean said.
"Well, when you get back home—you say 'yes'. You hear me? Say 'yes' to Michael." Future Dean warned.
"That's crazy. If I let him in, then Michael fights the devil. The battle's gonna torch half the planet." Past Dean said.
"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." Future Dean said.
"So why don't you?" Past Dean asked.
"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." Past Dean reasoned.
"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 begged then paused and added, "But you won't. 'Cause I didn't. Because that's just not us, is it?"
They joined the others and journeyed to the location to find Lucifer.
"There. Second-floor window. We go in there." Future Dean stated.
"You sure about this?" Riza asked.
"They'll never see us coming. Trust me. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five." Future Dean commanded.
"Hey, uh, me. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Past Dean asked pulling Future Dean aside.
Sarah stayed behind and watched as the others geared up.
Future Dean returned a minute later and told the others to move out. Then he grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her with him.
"Where's Dean?" She asked.
"I'm right here." He stated.
"No, Where's 2009 Dean?" Sarah asked pulling her arm from his grasp.
Future Dean sighed, turning toward her and said, "Forget about him." Then he closed the gap, pulling her close and staring into her eyes. "Stay with me. Once I kill Lucifer, we could finally be together." He moved to kiss her but she pulled back.
"Wait… what?"
"He won't appreciate you like I do. I know because I didn't until you were gone. Please…" He said as he started to kiss her.
Sarah couldn't believe what he was saying. She couldn't leave the Dean from her time. But… this Dean was so much more agreeable… so much easier to be with… almost too easy…
"I can't…" She said pulling away. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have to try and stop the apocalypse. I'm sorry." She then gave him one last kiss then ran back to try and find her Dean.
"Dean? Dean?" she called out trying to find him.
"Sarah?" She heard nearby. She ran over and found Dean just getting off the ground.
"What's going on?" he asked as they heard gunfire from inside the building. They broke into a run and reached the building in time to see Future Dean on the ground, neck being held down by the foot of someone wearing all white. FE opened his eyes and looked right at Past Dean. Then the man in white shifted his weight and snapped Future Dean's neck. The man in white slowly turned around to face the others.
"Oh. Hello, Dean." Lucifer Sam said, "Sarah, good to see you again." After a pause he added, "Aren't you a surprise." Thunder and lightning filled the air. "You've come a long way to see this, haven't you?" Lucifer Sam said from behind them.
"Well, go ahead. Kill me." Dean said moving protectively in front of Sarah.
"Kill you?" Lucifer Sam asked, looking from Future Dean's corpse to Past Dean, "Don't you think that would be a little...redundant?" He then looked over at Sarah and smirked, "For both of you." Then he sighed and said, "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 reached for Dean's shoulder but Dean moved 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?"
"Why? Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of God." Lucifer Sam said as he examined a nearby rose. Then after a pause said, "You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?"
"Oh, good God, you're not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach's almost out of bile." Dean said.
"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created..." Lucifer Sam smirked. "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 retorted.
"What am I?" Lucifer Sam asked.
"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." Dean said gruffly.
Lucifer Sam smiled, "I like you, Dean. I get what the other angels see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon." He turned to walk away but stopped to look at Sarah, "I'll see you really soon, sweetheart." He then winked and started to walk away. Sarah grabbed Dean's arm.
"You better kill me now!" Dean yelled.
"Pardon?" Lucifer Sam asked turning around.
"You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And I won't stop." Dean growled.
"I know you won't. I know you won't say yes to Michael, either. And I know you won't kill Sam. 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." Lucifer Sam said smugly.
"You're wrong." Dean growled.
Lucifer Sam smiled, "See you in five years, Dean." Then he was gone.
Dean and Sarah looked around and found Zachariah behind them. Zachariah placed two fingers on both of their foreheads transporting them back to 2009.
They reappeared in Dean's motel room. Dean fell against the counter behind him while Sarah Sarah fell to the ground by him.
"Oh, well, if it isn't the ghost of Christmas screw you." Dean said trying to get his barring's.
"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." Zachariah said.
"How do I know that this whole thing isn't one of your tricks? Huh? Some angel hocus-pocus?" Dean questioned.
"The time for tricks is over. Give yourself to Michael. Say yes and we can strike, before Lucifer gets to Sam. Before billions die." Zachariah reasoned.
Dean considered it for a moment then said, "Nah." As he helped Sarah to stand, keeping her hand in his.
"Nah? You telling me you haven't learned your lesson?" Zachariah asked getting angry.
"Oh, I've learned a lesson, alright. Just not the one you wanted to teach." Dean said.
"And you? Did you learn yours Sarah?" Zachariah asked switching his attention to her.
Sarah glared at him then said, "I learned that…" she looked at Dean then back at Zachariah, "We… are… the… champions." She sang causing Dean to give her a curious expression.
Zachariah looked like his head was going to explode. "Well, I'll just have to teach it again! Because I got you now, and I'm never letting you…" Zachariah yelled until they disappeared.
They looked around because they were now on the side of the rood.
"That's pretty nice timing, Cas." Dean said gratefully.
"We had an appointment." Cas said simply.
Dean put a hand on Cas' shoulder, "Don't ever change."
Sarah moved forward and hugged Cas. "Thank you." She whispered.
"How did Zachariah find you?" Cas asked over Sarah's shoulder.
"Long story. Let's just stay away from Jehovah's witnesses from now on, okay?" Dean said before pulling out his cell phone.
"What are you doing?" Cas asked as Sarah pulled back awkwardly, looking at Dean.
"Something I should have done in the first place." Dean said as Sarah leaned into him. Dean wrapped his free arm around her as he waited for Sam to pick up.
When he got off the phone, Cas ported the impala and their stuff to them. And then Dean and Sarah were off to get Sam.
"So are you going to tell me why you decided to sing 'We are the champions' to Zachariah?" Dean asked.
Sarah smirked at the memory of how mad Zachariah had gotten, "Well the last time he took me prisoner, you know the night of Bobby's accident. He decided to have a little fun while he waited for you to get to the storage unit. And to kinda keep my sanity in there, and to piss him off, I started to sing that song over and over. When he'd cut deep, I'd sing louder… I think I made a lasting impression on him."
Dean started to laugh, "Oh my, you really are crazy."
"So I hear."
After a little while Dean asked, "So… what happened between you and future me?"
"Why? You jealous?" Sarah teased. Dean shifted uncomfortably. "You are, aren't you?"
"Just answer the question. When I regained consciousness, at the big fight, you looked like there was a war raging inside of you."
"You could see that?" she asked in a small voice. Dean gave her a worried look. Sarah sighed. "After he knocked you out, he kinda begged me to stay with him… in 2014."
"What?"
"He told me that you, 2009 Dean, would never really appreciate me until I'm gone." Sarah admitted.
"Really… and… you chose to come back with me?"
"Yep." Sarah said simply looking straight out the front window.
"Why?"
"Why does it matter?" She retorted.
"Did you come back thinking that we would…"
"What?! No. Why would you think that?" Sarah said hurriedly.
Dean sighed, "Never mind," then they sat in silence until they reached the meeting point, just before dawn. Dean got out and leaned on the passenger side of the impala to wait.
"Dean…" Sarah started as she opened the car door to get out.
"Don't… Just don't. Please just stay there. I want to talk with Sam alone, alright?" he said gruffly.
She silently closed the door and sat there quietly. She watched as Sam pulled up and the boys spoke tensely for a few minutes. She cracked the window so she could listen.
"Sam… if you're serious and you want back in… you should hang on to this. I'm sure you're rusty." Dean said handing Sam, the demon killing knife. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at Dean's remark. "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."
"Is that Sarah? Did you two make up?" Sam asked.
"Like I said, 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." Dean answered.
"Thank you. Really, thank you. I won't let you down." Sam said gratefully.
"Oh, I know it. I mean, you are the second best hunter on the planet. Well probably third now, after Sarah." Dean joked.
Sam nodded. "So, what do we do now?"
"We make our own future." Dean stated.
"Guess we have no choice." Sam said simply.
They stood there for a minute before Sarah said, "Hey, are you two nerds done with your moment?"
Dean groaned and walked back to the driver's side of the impala, visibly irritated. Sarah took that as her cue, that she could get out of the car. "Hey, Sambo." She said walking up and pulling him into a hug. When she pulled back she smacked him across the face. He looked at her curiously. "That's for not calling me back. It'll be worse the next time, if either of you try to cut me out like that again."
Sam nodded and retrieved his bags. Sarah looked at Dean. His expression was hard but was no match for hers. He finally looked away flinging his arms in the air. She then nodded, proud that she had won the argument.
"Alrighty, boys, you two behave. And don't forget to answer my calls." She said grabbing her bags from the backseat of the impala.
"Where are you going?" Dean asked.
"You're not going with us?" Sam asked.
Sarah put her bags inside the car Sam had used. She looked over at the boys and smiled. "I will, soon. I promise. But right now, you two need to get reacquainted. Find your rhythm again."
"Oh, come on. Quit the bull and get in the car." Dean said pissed off.
Sarah got in the driver's seat of the other car, "I'll be seeing you two." She then used the exposed wires under the dash and sparked the car to life. And then she was off, leaving Sam and Dean alone with dumbstruck expressions on their faces.
She drove straight to Bobby's house. Walking in she found him at his desk doing research.
"Bobby?" She asked softly.
"Yeah?" he said harshly, then looked up and saw she had tear filled eyes. "Sarah? What's wrong?"
Sarah ran to him and flung her arms around him and let the tears fall freely. "Oh Bobby, I'm so happy you're ok!"
"What happened to you?" he asked pulling her back so he could look at her face.
Sarah preceded to tell Bobby everything that she'd been through the last few days. Everything about going to the year 2014.
Bobby listened quietly then told her to get cleaned up and to help him with his research.