The Mainline

"Alright new plan," Sam looked at the others as they walked down the mainline, Castiel leading the way like there had been nothing wrong with him an hour before. "Last time when we jumped through we were all separated, I think we should hold hands."

"Really?" Jet raised an eyebrow, "We found each other, didn't we? Come on."

"I'm serious, we need to stick together to handle these things and take them out as fast as possible. People are dying out there, Jet. We can't waste our time trying figure out where the others fell." Sam argued, looking to Castiel for some back up.

"Sam's not wrong," Cas conceded though his expression told more than he'd said, like he had more to say though wasn't sure how to put it. Re-wording things was pretty key when staying on Sam's good side. Cas used to be good friends with Sam, or the one that he'd known a long time ago, anyway, and he wanted to get there again. Sam had been (and still seemed to be) an amazing person to know, so Cas found a better way to say what he'd wanted to outright deny. "Though there's no telling what it'll be like when we go through again. There might not be a given pattern; just because we hold hands and stay linked doesn't necessarily mean we'll be together."

"It's worth a shot," Sam insisted, nudging at Cas' side and staring at him earnestly.

"Yeah, might as well give it a try." Dean agreed, catching up to Castiel's other side.

Cas was quiet for a long moment before he addressed them again, "Alright, fine. But the portal doesn't work until both priests are in so I'd suggest one of us taking up the rear. Dean, I say it should be you."

"Me? Why don't you? You're still exhausted, Cas! I should take the lead this time." Dean frowned, walking faster to move in front of Castiel and cut him off.

"I'm fine Dean." Cas stopped in his tracks and stared at his partner, that same piercing look he always seemed to have. Dean could never tell if he was pissed off or not, it was always the same intensity. Or, at least most of the time; he could still remember the moments that Castiel looked hurt or incredibly sad. He'd never really had the nerve to ask about the expressions though. Maybe at some point he would, but for now he'd just settle for making Castiel rest.

"You're not fine." Dean returned the intense stare and squared his shoulders, a sort of show of dominance, of how much bigger he still was. "You nearly killed yourself out there and I don't want to have to go through that again."

Cas opened his mouth to protest but found it difficult to argue, "Alright," he agreed and continued down the path, looking for a world that needed immediate attention. Dean couldn't say he wasn't surprised, he'd expected more of a fight or at least an argument but nothing. Castiel agreed with him for once.

"Cas," Dean smiled and caught up to his partner's side, that sly grin peering around in front of Castiel's face, "Are you starting to like me?"

A frown followed by a hand shoved in Dean's face was enough to knock him back and away, Cas continued down the trail ahead. "You wish." He snarled, almost convincingly if not for the subtle laugh that followed.

"Ah! I knew it! You're starting to like me. I'm growing on you."

"Fungus."

"Ouch."

"So, question." Jet asked from the back of the pack, his hands shoved in his pockets casually. "What happens to the world we were just in? Is it safe now?"

"Safer," Cas replied, "It'll have a warding spell around it from now on though that doesn't make it impenetrable. And what's more, the people we've just met and left won't remember we were there."

"Seriously?" Dean frowned, remembering the other Castiel's smile and overall hospitality. "Not at all?"

"No, we were a ripple in their timeline, whatever we interrupt will be forgotten and their lives will continue as if we hadn't been there. It takes about two minutes after we leave, but it happens." Cas looked over at Dean with a chuckle, "Why? You hoping to go back for that 'foursome' or something?"

Dean's face flushed and he looked away, ignoring the burning red in his cheeks, "No! Whatever." He turned away quickly and ran past Castiel to the nearest world, following a trail of fire, "I choose this one. Let's go." He shouted gruffly over his shoulder.

Cas raised an eyebrow as he strolled to Dean's side, "Really?"

"Yeah, so shut up." Dean bristled and reached back to take his brother's hand, Sam trying not to laugh at him.

"Dean, you're being over defensive."

"Shut up, Sam. You have no idea what he's talking about."

"Doesn't matter, you're still over reacting." Sam chuckled and took Jet's hand, the other male already holding Castiel's.

"Are we ready then, Mr. Leader?" Cas smiled from his position in the back, a sassier look than Dean had ever seen on him before. "Or are you worried we'll end up with another Castiel who wants to have sex with you?" Dean frowned first and lifted his upper lip in disgust second, shrugging it off and stepping through the portal.

Cas let out a scoffing sound, one meant to be smug and snarky, something to be taken in a mocking fashion. He'd never say out loud that it was a defensive maneuver against Dean's obvious distaste for any sexual contact with him. Though he didn't quite understand why it bothered him so much, this was a different Dean; he'd covered that a long time ago. So why was it getting to him in ways only his Dean was able to hurt him? In fact they'd had a bit of a moment back in that last world, hadn't they? Dean was holding him so tightly, had he just forgotten it? Did Dean not remember how scared he was of losing Cas? Or maybe he did remember and was trying to brush it off, pretend it didn't happen. Cas couldn't tell.

And on the other side of things, Dean didn't quite understand the face he'd made in return to Castiel's comment. He was embarrassed to let Cas even think he'd be interested, he even went as far as to try and hurt Cas' feelings over it by making it seem like being interested was the worst possible interpretation of his actions. It was something stupid teenagers did, or middle schoollers with a crush.

And that was the exact moment Dean realized that he might just have a crush on someone.

Small Problem World: Part 1

"He's seriously taking forever," Dean grumbled, having already been scolded once by his brother but risking it a second time. "Yeah we've been through this but seriously! How long does it take an angel to get from Greece to here?"

Sam shrugged and absently tore at the corners of his newspaper, not sure what to say to his brother anymore. "Honestly Dean I don't know, alright? He's done the 'not answering' thing before, maybe he just got caught up in something. There's probably a thousand different answers to your question, none of which tell us anything until he actually gets back." He started to stand from the small motel table, rubbing his hand through his hair in an attempt to de-frustrate himself from the situation. Dean could get downright ridiculous when anything involved Cas and really he didn't want to be part of it at that moment. Hoping for some kind of a distraction or at least Castiel's arrival.

He got his distraction when the wall next to him opened up, the surface rippled like a pool of water and both Winchesters found themselves completely unprepared for it. Sam grabbed his handgun and immediately took five steps back, weapon up and eyes trained on the movement of their motel room wall as the rippling quickened. Dean was already on his feet and prepared to snag whatever came out, demon knife in hand.

Two bodies emerged, one awkwardly falling through and face planting in the process, the other moving gracefully and stepping almost silently into the room. Dean grabbed the upright individual and forced him up against a portion of the wall that was regular, pinning him there with one arm. He was about to snap out the words 'who are you' when he saw who he'd grabbed, "Cas? Took you long enough! Where the hell have you been? And what's with the weird wardrobe?"

Castiel lifted a hand and slowly pushed Dean away from him, the hunter following the motion cooperatively. No real sense in shoving Cas anywhere, really. "I don't know what you were expecting," The priest started explaining as his partner bewilderedly rose from his humbled position on the floor, "but we're not it."

"Dean," Sam's warning tone caught his brother by surprise, both Dean's in the room looking over at him, "There's two of you." He lowered the gun a little, only for a moment before he traded it out for a silver knife from the duffel bag at his feet.

"Calm down," Castiel instructed, "There should have been two more, did they come through?"

"No, you're the first wall jumpers we got today." Dean's hand forcefully returned to Cas' chest and pushed him back against the wall, "Now start talking. Who are you?"

"You weren't wrong, I am Castiel, just not the one you know."

Dean narrowed his eyes and pushed harder, his untrusting nature not as much of a surprise to Cas though the other Dean was surprised to see it. "Hey, let go of him!" The priest in-training moved to remove his look alike from his partner but stopped, Sam's hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Enough fooling around, how did you walk through a wall? What are you?"

"Give me a moment to explain and I'll tell you." Castiel growled, glaring at Dean just as hard as the hunter glared at him. The stare-off lasted several moments before Dean finally let go again, stepping away but not disarming himself. "Thank you," Cas wasn't entirely grateful but using those words tended to soothe more than not. "Now, like I said my name is Castiel, this is my partner Dean. To put it simply, we're travellers of the time-space continuum, alternate realities, and dimensions."

"So…" Dean looked over at his double, staring at the matching outfits these two wore and deciding not to bring it up. "How?"

"It's a special ability we possess as High Priests."

"Why?" Sam's expression matched the untrusting confusion of his brother's to the T.

"Essentially; we've been given the task of salvation." Castiel made it seem to easy to explain, his partner was left with the memory of fumbling through it to the Cas from the last world. He cringed at the thought and kept his mouth shut, if Castiel was with him then Castiel could answer the questions.

"Salvation of what?" The other Dean took his turn at question asking, his face starting to take on a look of skepticism. Not did he only distrust them, he thought they were deceiving and lying. Much more dangerous.

"The universe, different realities, timelines, dimensions, all of it. Wherever we may go we are responsible for saving, whether we've been there or not."

Sam lowered the knife, passively dropping it back into the bag at his feet and earning himself an estranged look from the other hunter. "Sounds like it's kind of big for just two of you."

"Used to be just me," Cas scoffed, "It's gotten easier, mostly."

"I think the question is more like what are you saving these things from?" Dean wasn't about to give up as easily as Sam, he wasn't about to just accept that these look a-likes were saving universes without some kind of proof.

"The Void, mostly." Castiel had already visibly relaxed in comparison to his earlier stance, eyes no longer trying to glare a hole through Dean's head. "It's the space in between dimensions and off the mainline of realities. It's everywhere and there are monsters lurking in it, all kinds of beasts with several names and capabilities. They've been sneaking into the worlds and causing havoc, slowly taking over until there's nothing left to save." He looked away miserably, his hands tightening at his sides, "It's happened a few times now, where I was unable to help and one of the worlds fell, dragged down into the void and gone."

Dean watched his partner as the two brothers exchanged a glance and moved closer to each other; he wondered why Cas hadn't told him that. 'Probably because it's not something that needed to come up, or something he doesn't like to mention.' But of course that begged the question; why now?

"Alright," Sam looked over from where he and his Dean had huddled to make a quick game plan, "What can we do?"

"I just need to know what's been going on lately that's entirely different from normal." Cas watched their faces crack up at his words and all he could do was stare at them until someone fessed up as to why it was so funny.

"Man, that's everyday around here." Dean snorted at him, "When things are normal is when it's not normal. I don't know what to tell you."

"Then we need to go," Cas looked to his partner before heading toward the door, Dean in tow.

"Hold up."

The priests both stopped and glanced back, Cas looked the other Dean over for a second before answering. "Yes?"

"We're waiting for our friend to come back, he might know something." Dean explained, still not willing to just let this go. If their reality was in danger and all he had to do was find something strange going on to help it? What would he say to himself later if he didn't do anything at all and things were coming to an end around him? He'd be pissed.

Cas hesitated but nodded, "Alright then, we'll stay."

Author's Note:

Have you ever read something you wrote a long time ago and just… cringe? Yeah, that was me re-reading some of my old work to find what to add in here next. I'll admit that the Small Problem fic this world is based on isn't that well written. It's pretty bad actually lmfao I'm considering re-doing it. So if you do decide to go read it because you liked this world then please be nice, it was one of the first times I'd ever written smut and … well let's just say no reaction gif in the world could cover that horrendous bit.