7: Road Trip
The Doctor, Amy, Rory, Sam, Dean, and Castiel all decided to pile into the Winchesters' Impala for the journey back to the TARDIS. Sam and Dean claimed their usual spots up front and Amy, Rory, and the Doctor buckled up in the back. Castiel stood outside the car looking uncomfortable.
"Hop on in, Cas! There's a spot right here on Rory's lap!" The Doctor called encouragingly.
"There's a spot where exactly?" Rory looked at Amy in panic, but Cas was already awkwardly climbing into the car. As it turned out, he didn't sit directly on Rory's lap, but wound up somewhat squished between Amy and Rory.
Sam looked concernedly back at their disgruntled passengers and turned back to Dean to mutter, "Just… take it easy on the drive."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Please. Baby always rides smooth, you know that Sammy. He glanced in the rearview mirror and smirked, seemingly amused at the predicament. Amy glared around Cas at Rory, who shrugged at her and leaned back into his seat as though trying to imagine he were anywhere else right then. Castiel caught Dean's enjoyment in the mirror and sent him a fierce glare. The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed as usual.
"Everybody comfortable?" Dean asked with a grin. There was a wave of grumbling from behind him followed by the Doctor's cheerful, "Right-o!"
"Awesome. Away we go! You point the way, Doc."
The Doctor rolled down the car window next to him and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the sky, scanning.
"We're going to want to head northwest."
"Northwest?"
"Yes, Northwest."
"Seriously, that's all you've got for me? Any specific highway or location?"
"I'll point you as you go, don't worry."
Dean exchanged a dubious glance with Sam.
"If you say so."
Dean pulled the Impala out of the motel parking lot and onto the road, doing his best to go northwest, just as the Doctor described. He was trying very hard to fight his annoyance over the strange man's vague and irritating manner. As the small country road opened up back onto the highway, the car grew quiet. The reality of the situation seemed to be fully settling over everyone, along with the realization of just how little they really knew about each other.
It was Rory who finally broke the silence.
"So… you're an angel?" he asked, turning his head awkwardly to the side to acknowledge Cas.
"Yes, I am an angel of the Lord," Cas answered in his typical deadpan fashion. He fixed Rory with an intense stare, as though trying to X-ray his mind, which made Rory look even more uncomfortable. His brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to hold Cas's gaze, as though he was afraid to break it. Amy looked on with a hint of a smile starting to play around her lips.
"There is definitely something different about you. Both of you." Cas turned his head to fix Amy with the same intense stare he'd given Rory, and suddenly her smile was gone. "You're both human, but you have traces of something… more in you. I can sense it, but it's unlike anything I've ever seen before."
"That would be the long-term exposure to the Time Vortex, I believe," the Doctor chimed in. Cas nodded thoughtfully, still staring at Amy. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
"Could you… I mean… Do you mind stopping that?"
"Stopping what?"
"That staring thing. It's weird."
"Don't worry about it he does that to everyone," Sam remarked from the front. He and Dean both seemed to be holding back laughter at this point. "But he's harmless, really."
"It's true," Castiel's eyes had relaxed from their narrow focus and were now wide in earnest. "I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable."
"It's all right," Amy shrugged.
"It's just the only angels we've never met were a bit more… evil than you," Rory explained. Cas gazed at him solemnly.
"I see. Have you met Lucifer as well?"
Amy looked alarmed. "What?!"
"Oh no relation, Castiel, no relation at all, I assure you!" The Doctor clarified with a laugh. "Believe you me, none of us have ever met a real angel like you."
"Oh." Cas looked confused, but also seemed to decide to drop the subject. Amy took that moment to interject a question towards the Winchesters.
"And you two are demon hunters?"
"Yeah," Sam said, glancing back at her. "But not just demons. We also hunt ghosts, werewolves, vampires, wendigos, djinn, daevas, gods, witches… basically anything paranormal. We've seen some crazy stuff."
"Oh yeah, well I guess we can relate on that front," Amy murmured, catching Rory's eyes sharing a knowing smile with him.
"Honestly before today, I never believed all those paranormal things really exist," Rory confessed.
"Really Rory, with everything I've shown you?" the Doctor asked incredulously. Rory shrugged.
"I guess I just figured aliens yes, magic things no. There goes that theory."
"There are hunters all over the world to help, maybe the ones in your area are just really good at their jobs. You're lucky to have never had a close run-in with anything to be honest," Sam told them.
Dean nodded, his eyes still on the road and his hands tight on the wheel. "Yeah it doesn't always end so well if we don't get there in time."
At this, Sam seemed suddenly eager to change the subject.
"So what about you guys? What do you do, other than time travel all the time?"
Amy and Rory exchanged a glance, temporarily struck dumb.
"Well time traveling is about the extent of it for me," the Doctor said cheerfully. Amy glanced over at him, sensing a note of sadness beneath the surface that she was sure none of the others could hear. But she didn't mention it.
"Rory and I mostly travel with the Doctor, too. We haven't had much time to our own, recently. We just got married about a year ago and since then the adventures just keep coming. But we like it this way!" she added quickly, sending another sidelong look at the Doctor. If he had been upset by her words, he did not let on.
"Well that's good. So you're married then?"
"Yes. We are." Rory reached across Cas to take Amy's hand, eyeing the back of Sam's head suspiciously. Had that been disappointment he'd heard in the tall man's voice?
"Congratulations!" Sam said. Rory relaxed a little. Sam sounded genuine. Rory sighed and chided himself inwardly for being so insecure. Amy had chosen him and he knew he needn't worry even if other men did have crushes on her.
The car fell into silence again. The Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Castiel all continued to sit awkwardly in the back, adjusting positions every so often to try and get more comfortable only to feel discomfort again minutes later. Outside the windows, miles of farmland stretched around them. The car was jostled by a soft bump in the road.
"Take the exit onto this outer road please, Dean," the Doctor said, finally. Dean followed his directions. The next road they found led into an even more vacant road than the one they'd been on before. There was no sign of civilization for miles. Amy and Rory hoped the Doctor's sense of direction was on point.
"So, uh, how long is it going to take to get to this… thing?" Dean asked. "Are we sure we can get to Watson in time?"
"Oh, not to worry!" the Doctor assured him. "I expect we're already there saving him."
"Wait, what?"
"Not to worry it's all very-"
"DON'T say wibbley wobbley," Amy cut the Doctor off mid-sentence, sensing what was coming. She took over for him. "That's just the way time travel works. We're not there yet because we're here, but once we get back to the TARDIS we can go back in time to the exact moment after Watson called. So it's sort of like we can be in two places at once."
It seemed like a perfectly plausible explanation to Amy, but Dean merely chuckled darkly.
"I'll believe this when I see it."
"I certainly hope you will," the Doctor trilled.
Sam gave a sigh, rubbing his temples as though he had a headache.
"You okay Sammy?" Dean asked in concern-filled tones.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just stressed, is all. Headache."
"It's not… you know… is it?"
"No Dean," Sam managed a small smile to reassure his brother.
Amy and Rory exchanged a "what was that all about?" look, but did not push the brothers for answers. They did not seem eager to offer any, either. Even Castiel seemed confused. He glanced between the Winchesters, looking slightly alarmed when Sam held his head, but tried to relax back into his seat once Sam claimed to be okay. His thoughts seemed to turn elsewhere.
"Is it true that you are a being from another planet?" Castiel asked, looking over at the Doctor.
"Yes. I'm what's called a Time Lord. From the planet Gallifrey."
"I recall you saying that before. But why aren't you on Gallifrey now?"
At this, Amy and Rory tensed with nearly identical looks of alarm on their faces as their gazes shot straight to the Doctor. The Doctor seemed suddenly extremely interested in something out the window, turning his face away from Castiel.
"Because there is no Gallifrey anymore."
"Oh… I am… sorry…" Awkwardness hung in the air. No one seemed to know what to say, until finally Cas pressed on, "I know what it feels like to be displaced from home. I've been banished from heaven before, my home. And now… with the current state it's in… It's almost like it doesn't exist. The heaven I once knew is gone, anyway. Sometimes I think it might as well not be there."
Sam and Dean exchanged a look up front. They'd never heard Cas speak this way about heaven before. The Doctor finally looked over at Cas to give him a small smile.
"Thank you for the fellowship, Castiel. I'm sorry you've had to endure similar hardships, however."
"It's okay."
Before another strained and awkward silence could fall over the Impala, Dean decided to take over the conversation.
"So Doc, how come you're helping us anyway? What do you time travelers have to do with a bunch of demons? Shouldn't you be… I don't know… Making sure World War II never happened or something?"
"It doesn't quite work like that Dean, there are some fixed points in history that can never be changed- oh take this exit."
Dean abruptly followed the Doctor's direction, causing everyone in the car to pitch to the side briefly. Once they'd all been set upright, he pushed on, "Not that we don't appreciate the help and all, we do, but you've got to understand, it's kinda weird. You claim to be in on all this stuff but Sammy and I have been all over this goddamn country saving the entire world, and we've never even so much as heard of you. So why are you helping us? You could be anywhere in time right now. Why here?"
"Well, you see… all the things that you fight, all of these angels and demons and creepy-crawlies in this world, are all remnants of an ancient alien race, placed here during times that precede even human beings. They established the alternate dimensions that you call heaven and hell, and they've been living here ever since. They've been here so long I doubt they even remember where they first came from anymore. I think they believe themselves just as much a part of this planet as you do now. And why shouldn't they? They've practically shaped the majority of human history after all. Some people have even speculated that they or one of their leaders created the human race. But I know where they're from. I found their source awhile back and defeated it, but it was too late. It had spread its eggs across the cosmos billions of years before."
"Okay well I've had about enough of this scientology crap. You're dancing around the question."
"Well, Dean, I just suppose that I take any matters regarding aliens threatening the people of earth to heart. And since demons are actually aliens, and I failed to stop their spread long ago… I feel an extra obligation to help."
"That's all fine and well but this is not the first time demons have been threatening the earth. I ask again, WHERE WERE YOU FOR THE APOCALYPSE?"
Dean's voice had risen to threatening levels, but the Doctor raised his voice right back, finally showing signs of irritation in return.
"I WAS PROBABLY DEALING WITH A DIFFERENT APOCALYPSE! I'm a busy time lord. What year was this apocalypse happening?"
"2010."
"Well there you go, in 2010 I got pulled away from Earth twice to deal with things on other planets and the last time I was there I was a little busy saving the entire world from being taken over by a madman and my native race who are supposed to be dead but almost got brought back to wreak havoc on the human race and then oh yes there was the whole matter of DYING AND CHANGING MY ENTIRE BODY."
Silence.
"Okay… what?" Sam asked finally.
"When he dies, he doesn't really die. That version of him dies but he retains all his memories as he's immediately born into a new body. It's called regenerating," Amy was hasty to explain.
"You know if we didn't already deal with weird crap I'd say you three were out of your minds."
"The bottom line is, Dean, I apologize for not having been around before. But we're here now. And from now on, I can come help whenever you call. You have my word."
"Fine."
The entire car lapsed into silence again, and this time it lasted. It was broken only occasionally by the Doctor giving a direction to Dean, who obeyed wordlessly. They carried on like this for what must have been a good part of an hour. Night had fully settled over the world outside now, but the light of the waning gibbous moon kept some of the scenery in view, though it was mostly still just fields of corn and forests for miles. They were deep in Missouri farm land.
"We've got to be getting there soon. Are you sure you're taking us the right way, Doctor?" Amy asked.
"I certainly hope so," the Doctor murmured distractedly, staring out the window.
"Well that's reassuring," Dean grumbled.
"I'm getting tired of staring at corn in the dark. Don't you have any other scenery in this country?" Amy shifted in her seat, or shifted the best she could with Castiel sitting on one leg.
"Oh sweetheart, this is the Midwest. You won't see much else for miles."
Amy crossed her arms in her seat and glared at Dean.
"Don't call me sweetheart."
After about another awkward half hour and one failed attempt to start a sing-along, the Doctor finally exclaimed, "Pull over, Dean! This is the field."
Dean rolled the Impala to a stop and to the great relief of the backseat passengers, they finally got to open the doors and spill out of the car, stretching and groaning.
The Doctor scanned the air yet again with his sonic screwdriver, finally stopping to shout, "This way!"
"But what about Baby?" Dean was hesitant to leave the Impala behind on the side of the road.
"We can come back for it later don't worry. The Doctor can time it so it will never have been left here at all. Sort of like we still have to do with that motorcycle," She muttered the last bit as a side note to Rory. Dean still seemed reluctant but nodded slowly, turning to face the field.
The Doctor had already gotten a running head start across the field, so everyone else jogged quickly to catch up with him. Eventually, through the mists of the field at night, TARDIS swam into view. She had turned on the light on top, as though she had anticipated that it might be hard to for them to find it again in the dark. When Amy saw the Police Box label, her heart leapt in relief. The Doctor increased his speed toward it and the others followed suit. Finally, everyone came to a halt before it, panting. Except for the Doctor, of course, who was in fact positively beaming at his old friend in pride.
"This?" Dean growled, still trying to catch his breath. "This is your big time machine? Is this a joke? Cuz let me tell you buddy, I am seriously not in the mood for-"
"No! No! No jokes! Follow me inside, you'll see."
The Doctor stepped his fingers to make the doors spring open and walked inside, followed by Amy and Rory. Dean caught a glimpse of a brightly colored interior, but glanced over at his brother before following the time travelers inside, as though searching for confirmation. Sam nodded.
"What have we got to lose?"
Finally, with a deep breath, both of the Winchesters and Castiel stepped into the TARDIS. The Doctor was waiting there, staring at them eagerly, standing in front of some sort of control system in the center of a large room with other hallways that appeared to be branching off to further rooms beyond. Amy and Rory leaned against the railing of a staircase that led to an upper level just above, smirking down at them. Meanwhile both Winchesters, along with Castiel, seemed to have gone temporarily mute.
"Well?" the Doctor called over to them, giving a little spin as he gestured around to the impossible interior of the small blue police box. "Still don't believe us?"
"How…?" Sam finally got out, turning in a slow circle as he stared around, his mouth hanging open slightly. Dean took a step backwards, sticking his head out the door to stare at the field beyond, then pulling back in to gape at the control room again.
"This is impossible."
"No, quite possible with alien technology. TARDIS is an acronym, for Time and Relative Dimension In Space. Dimension is relative. You can fit a whole world into a small blue box, you just have to think about it a little differently."
"Okay, I'm getting a headache," Sam said, sounding somewhat faint.
"Yeah, which is saying a lot because he's the smart one," Dean was trying to regain composure, but not having much luck. Castiel, on the other hand, remained silent this entire time. He was blinking rapidly, apparently trying to process the TARDIS in his own way. Sam wondered if Cas was slightly less impressed by the magic police box because using their abilities, angels could probably produce similar effects if they really wanted to.
"It's okay boys, everyone usually takes a bit of time to adjust. Although we really should get flying soon. We don't want to keep Watson waiting for too long!"
"I thought you said Watson wouldn't be waiting?" Sam suddenly looked deeply concerned.
"Not at all! Just an expression, not to worry…"
"Wait, did you say flying?" Some of the Doctor's words seemed to have only just registered with Dean, who glanced at his brother in panic.
"Well yes, how else would a time machine travel? We've got to get into the time vortex somehow so we'll be flying but also teleporting, in a way, into the vortex…"
Dean was starting to look green. He sank down to the floor in a sitting position, putting his head between his knees.
"My brother isn't big on the whole 'flying' thing. Usually it's only planes he has to worry about though. Listen, Doctor, has the TARDIS ever had any problems with… oh, I don't know… being possessed by demons?"
The Doctor laughed. "Oh most definitely not. Demons are incredibly powerful beings of course, but not powerful enough to overcome the TARDIS. Time Lord technology is too strong for that. There's a reason they were both admired and feared across the galaxy."
"It's true," Castiel said, speaking finally. "I can sense the heart of this machine. It is much to complex for a demon to be able to overcome."
"Well at least we don't have to worry about that this time, right Dean? See it will be fine. The Doctor knows what he's doing," Sam tried to sound reassuring to his brother. Dean finally lifted up his head, breathing a little more evenly. He even managed to stand back up, but his fists were still clenched with tension.
"Just make it a quick trip, okay Doc?"
"Right-O!" The Doctor began dancing around the controls, flipping switches and pressing buttons this way and that. There was a grinding, whining sound all around that caused the Winchesters and Castiel to hold their hands over their ears and look around in surprise. None of the time travelers seemed phased however; it was like they were used to it. As it died away, Sam and Cas slowly took their hands from their ears and Dean followed suit, though that may have only been so he could grab onto a rail for support as they felt the TARDIS begin to move.
"Here we go!" the Doctor cried, his eyes alight with the joy of a child on Christmas morning. "To London! Geronimo!"