In Between

"This is it?" Sam breathed out as they ascended the staircase toward the gate, his heart beat rapidly and while his mind swarmed with so many questions he asked the most obvious one. Part of him wanted to slap himself, the rest just didn't quite care enough to really think on it any further than that.

"Yes," Castiel sighed in return and rolled his neck a little to crack it. He was aware they could possibly end up being there for a while; his own training hadn't quite gone quick as lightning. Then again he was in a state of grief he thought he could hear Dean everywhere. It was enough to make him feel like he was going crazy; even now he had to wonder about it. "You will meet the celestial beings responsible for making Dean and I high priests, and-"

"You mean the guys who can't take care of the friggin' world on their own?" Jet scoffed, "Yeah, right, sign me up! I wanna meet those guys…"

"Stow your sarcasm, will you? They aren't anything to scoff at and quite frankly I don't think you understand what's going on enough to judge." Castiel countered Jet's snarky-ness with his own snap of anger, not in the mood to really sit and listen to it.

"You're right," Sam nodded and hurried up the rest of the stairs and ahead of them, "We don't know enough, I'm going to go ask."

"Sam!" Cas shouted after him but Sam, and of course Jet who wouldn't let Sam out of his sight in a weird little world if he had a say in it, escaped ahead. Cas would have run after them but he was still feeling the effects of the domus, his legs were shaky and he felt a bit nauseous with sudden movements. "Fucking people…" He growled out.

Sam walked into the main room with the three celestial beings and though he felt like maybe he should stop and bow or something he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He'd thought when he was face to face with them maybe they'd demand it but they didn't, in fact their faces seemed unchanging as he approached. "So what are you?" He asked after a moment of looking around.

"We are holy beings that watch over the universe." Only the one in the center spoke, Sam turned his attention toward it, glad to have an indication of which one to focus on.

"So are you what people are referring to when they say 'god'?"

"Yes. We are the deities that mankind refers to; in many worlds this is the case. However some realities have their own gods present within them."

Sam furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, trying to find something to do with them, "So… then are you above that?"

"Yes. We are more than those deities."

"So then why haven't you fixed the universe?" Jet stepped forward, his expression pinched a little like it usually did when he was irritated, a sign that he was attempting to not get severely pissed off. "Why does Cas have to run around by himself for centuries alone? Almost dying for you bastards when you're these all-powerful god things?"

"We never said we were all powerful, Jet."

Jet opened his mouth but paused and stepped back, glancing over at Sam for a moment before looking back to the celestial beings. They were larger than life, really, and the way they glowed was pretty calming in itself. It all seemed so weird, standing in front of three cloaked individuals, the only part of them he could really identify was their eyes, and yet they still felt less sketchy than majority of the people he'd met in his life. Jet fidgeted with the sleeve of his shirt, contemplating what to say next when Castiel entered the room.

The priest stepped inside and proceeded into a low, sweeping bow onto one knee before rising again. "I'm sorry, I don't currently have the strength to stop them from bombarding you."

"It is alright, Castiel." The celestial chuckled softly and gave a gentle wave of its hand, "We were expecting this. Sam Winchester is renowned for his curiosity."

Sam blinked and looked up at them, "I… what?"

"You are seeking knowledge of the events unfolding, are you not?"

"Well… yeah, I am. I'm tired of fumbling around in the dark while Cas has to be the only one who knows what we're up against."

"You are lucky to have Castiel's knowledge though it too is limited. One can only experience so much in the span of time that Castiel has had."

Sam exchanged a look with Castiel who had found a pillar to lean against for support; it was tiring having to stand for too long. He wanted to push the subject but from the way the beings had avoided the real topic he figured he wouldn't get the answers right away. Instead he considered Dean, he could tell by Castiel's face that he was thinking about it too, the difference was that Cas understood what happens with this whole scenario. "What's… what's happening to my brother right now?"

"His magic has awakened inside him, he's under going training so it does not tear him apart."

"I don't like how calmly you say that…" Jet muttered, his hand twitching at his side as he started to pace the room. "Can we help him?"

"No, Dean must take this challenge on his own. We've done everything we can for him."

Castiel scoffed lightly and looked down at his feet, remembering clearly what their 'help' entailed. Basically letting him feel like he'd lost his mind after forcing his magic out of him, taking over his body and using it to kill his husband. It wasn't what Cas would have called 'helpful' but after saving a few realities he'd never say it wasn't worth it. "He'll be alright, it's not that hard." He wished it was so easy but Dean was in his right head, he wasn't stricken with grief and he knew there were people who cared about him waiting. Cas wasn't too worried about him. Worried, but not to the point of being sick over it.

Sam and Jet both glanced toward him but neither spoke up immediately. Instead they shifted around, Jet wandered a bit closer and Sam tried to appear a little less concerned about it. "What happened when you did it?" Sam was the one to ask, of course.

"It…" Cas paused as the memories dredged up, his mind opening something he'd tucked away. Not forgotten but hidden. "It was scary at first, I'd just lost my husband." He folded his arms around himself and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. "I was hurting, from the heartache and from the spell that was trying to come out. But once they put me in the place Dean's in now I calmed down. I-" He laughed at himself and rubbed at his face, trying to find a reason to not look up. "I thought I could hear him."

"Dean?" Jet asked softly, walking over and dropping down near by.

"Yeah… He was there with me. He kept telling me it was going to be fine, that he knew I'd be okay someday." Cas wiped at his eyes as tears welled up, "I will never forget it… I was so scared and sad, I wanted to see him… I know he wasn't really there and that I was probably completely insane but I love that memory."

Jet and Sam shared another look as the younger Winchester plopped down across from them, his long leg stretching out and nudging at Castiel's foot. "Hey, he wasn't wrong, was he?"

Cas smiled and shook his head, "No, I suppose he wasn't."

"So what now? Just sit here?" Jet leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Pretty much, I'm gonna try asking more questions." Sam got up and went to do just that, though the celestials weren't particularly chatty.

Hours Later…

Something about the celestials didn't sit right with Sam; time slipped by as they waited and the more it passed the more he started to wonder. The answers they received were far from 'answers' really, they got a lot 'we did not say that' and 'there is no real answer to give'. It was starting to get on his nerves but Sam refrained from really saying anything specifically about it. In truth he just wanted to see his brother but knew that they had to wait. Occupying his mind with other questions was probably just as important, like questions about the monsters they were facing or the significance of the other realities and why now after centuries of Castiel going through it all, were they running into duplicates?

In fact the holy beings seemed familiar in ways that Sam was comfortable and at the same time very uncomfortable with. It wasn't all that different from the discomfort he felt from running into himself over and over again, like he knew the man he was looking at but at the same time he really couldn't say that he did. How well did he know himself? How well did he know his brother or friends? Sure, he could blame his ignorance on the fact that the alternate versions of them experienced different things and grew up in different realities, but then where was his excuse when it came to the people he was travelling with? Castiel he'd hardly known through a hole in the ground and he felt like maybe he knew more about the high priest's psyche than he knew about Jet's, and possibly even Dean's.

"Can I ask you a favour?" He spoke up again, the first to break the silence in the time that had passed.

The center celestial looked at him and nodded, the other two still unmoving and completely lost on Sam. They never spoke, they barely budged, and from the distance the travellers had kept that whole time he hadn't gotten a good look at them. As far as he knew the damn things could have holes where their eyes should be and he would be none the wiser.

"Do you have a book on these monsters? Something I can reference? Cas is the only one who knows anything and last time he was the one who was affected by the domus, leaving Dean to scramble around and try to figure it out. Jet and I aren't much help as it is, I need something on these things." He watched the way the center being glanced over to the others that both moved at once to look at it, there seemed to be a silent discussion between their eyes alone before the holy one on the left revealed an item from its robe.

"One had been started by a young man some time ago but he was unable to continue his battles. If you'd like-" It stopped when the being on its right gripped its other arm.

Sam furrowed his brow as they seemed to bicker for a moment, glancing over at Castiel who appeared a little confused at the behaviour but more along the lines of 'you choose now to do this?' Cas looked his way and shrugged, a sort of 'what can you do' expression on his face.

The one the on the right nodded toward Sam but the center being shook their head before reaching out the book for Sam to take. "You will make better use of it than us."

Sam approached, feeling like maybe it should be more impressive to approach the holy beings of the universe but it felt like crossing any other room. He took the book in hand, pulling it to himself and tracing his fingers over the binding for a moment. It was so familiar; he looked up at the center being that appeared so much smaller in front of him than across the room. Everything felt strange, like deja vu over and over and over again. He didn't like the feeling, he didn't like how much he recognized the eyes of the celestial before him, he didn't like how familiar the journal in his hands was.

Up close they were so much smaller, and Sam realized that it wasn't just a feeling he was having, they really were smaller up close. He glanced back to where Jet and Castiel were perched, seeing the air between them ripple subtly every so often. It was illusionary magic, or something. He looked back up, "Who are you?" He heard himself ask the question and the being's eyes seemed to smile through their veil.

"Now is not the time to answer that question either, Sam."

Even its voice started to ring bells, but the way it came across sounded like something was altering it from the original, like it was speaking through some kind of scrambler. However despite how much Sam thought he could recognize this being, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Sam, come here." Castiel called to him, "I know what you're feeling and it's normal."

"What? That these guys freak him the fuck out?" Jet frowned and raised an eyebrow at the holy creatures that Castiel seemed to serve so aimlessly. "Ever stop to think you should question this kind of shit?"

"Jet, you don't know enough to really be saying something like that." Cas replied calmly, not taking Jet's annoyance to heart.

"I don't know enough? They aren't answering any important fucking questions, when am I going to know enough?"

"Just shut up for a minute," Cas muttered as Sam sat down beside him, "You feel like you know them, right?"

"Yeah," Sam murmured, lifting up the journal and flipping it open to the first page. He froze, eyes widening as the 'this journal belongs to' line sunk in.

John Winchester

Signed and everything, just like the one Sam had back at his place. This was his dad's journal, it was exactly the same as the one he'd hidden in his dresser, among all of his things for years, he was sure of it. The lettering was the same, weird way he'd scribbled the 'J' and etched out 'Winchester' like some form of script. Sam knew it had to be the same, he'd practiced signing his name the same way, trying to mimic the way his father had once written Winchester like it was a legacy thing. By now it was habit and just how Sam wrote it, but back when he was younger and trying to do it he'd studied it harder than Dean ever had. Dean didn't even know Sam had it; he'd never shared it.

"I know this journal..." he looked up at the celestials that remained where they were, suddenly seemingly larger than life again but Sam knew why. "Was my dad the one who wrote this?"

"No."

His heart skipped and everything felt wrong as he skimmed ahead to look at the first entries.

It was his writing.

"It... was a Sam?"

"Yes."

"What?" Castiel snapped and stood up, snatching the book from Sam's hands, "How? Sam Winchester was never a Priest!"

"We never said he was, Castiel. Why does it seem so odd to you that a duplicate of a man you know, a man you knew, could exist? You've run into many already."

"You're implying that this other Sam travelled the mainline," Cas spoke as he looked through the journal a little, noting the different entries and reading them quickly. The first one was a good place to start and it was one that made him stutter to a halt; it described the first incident's demoni situation. The ability to possess a human if its power level was high enough, the way it was weaker when in control of a human body and all the things that Cas had ever explained to Sam about the creature. There next entry was a raptoribus, then the aer situation where they ran into several over and over again, it was eerie. Recounting their journey as if the Sam with them had been writing all along.

"Sam," Cas looked over at him trying to keep his surprise to a minimum, "Did you bring your father's journal with you?"

"I…" Sam furrowed his brow and bit his lower lip, "No, I didn't. I mean I had packed some things when we first left but I never ended up bringing it with from the first world."

"Yeah, my shit got ruined first thing." Jet laughed, "Dean and I landed right in a pond or something. It was kind of funny, though at the time I was pissed."

"So then…" Castiel shook his head and looked up at the celestials, "Is this a timeline thing?"

The center one nodded.

"I don't understand, if they were using the mainline I would have seen them!"

"It's an alternate timeline for the mainline; a timeline that was never meant to exist but found its way into doing so."

"So… there's an alternate timeline for the mainline that's a connector between alternate realities… Do I have that right?" Jet pushed off the floor as he spoke, walking up beside Cas and looking down at the journal in his hands.

"Yes…" Cas muttered, also trying to wrap his head around it. "Essentially there are alternate realities of the realities we've visited already. I didn't know the mainline could have a different timeline of its own."

"It can and it does." The celestial sounded tired as it spoke, like it had to do this at other points in time.

"How many times have you had to explain this to us?" Sam blurted out, starting to feel very insignificant in a mess of worlds and timelines.

"Never, when the timeline split from where it was supposed to go the original timeline reset itself. The corrupted timeline has since stopped moving and is frozen where it is, the correct route, the real timeline reset itself to a point centuries back."

"So did the timeline fix itself from the corruption point?" Castiel handed the journal back to Sam and turned his full attention to the beings he'd been taking orders from for as long as he could remember, "Are we past the point where it split the first time?"

"No, that time is approaching."

"What do we need to do?" Cas pushed, hoping for an answer.

"The high priests will face difficult moments and how they emerge will alter the timeline. I believe you will not end up like the previous timeline; I've already changed it for you."

"What?" Cas, Sam and Jet all asked in unison. But their words fell flat because the illusionary magic creating their larger image grew thicker until they could no longer see through it. When it cleared the celestials were gone entirely.

"What happened!?" Jet pointed and shouted, mostly directing the question Castiel's way.

"They do this too, mostly when they don't want to answer more questions." Cas growled and went back to where he was sitting. "We wait for Dean and then we leave, that's all."

Sam gripped the journal and looked down at it again, his mind trying to piece it all together. "They changed it for us? Does that mean that the things I'll read after this won't actually happen that way?"

"It's kind of like we got a cheat sheet, you think that's what he meant?" Jet looked down at Cas who seemed more frustrated than either of them.

"Possibly… they've just given us something that'll tell us what happens to us… either they've already taken the precautions to change it and the situations in that journal won't line up with what we're about to go through, or it'll be the same and we need to read ahead and change the outcome."

Sam sat down and flipped it back to the first page, "Well I'm going to get some reading in while we wait for Dean."