Fragments of Memories

Dean ran a hand through Castiel's hair and let it linger a few seconds, "You look amazing," he whispered.

"And you're messing up my hair," Cas chuckled, reaching up and lowering Dean's hand again. "But thank you, you're pretty fantastic yourself." Their voices were kept very low so as not to disturb the man before them as he read out the long speech that was tradition at every wedding.

"The couple has decided they'd like to say something as the final 'I do's'." The priest smiled at them and gave a gesture to indicate they had the spotlight.

Cas squeezed Dean's hands reassuringly before his fiancé turned to face the room full of friends and family, "I guess I'd just like to start by saying that Sam would have loved to be here for this. In a way I have him to thank for everything I have today, Cas included. He was the one who urged our relationship to start and he was the one who begged Cas to stay with me even when I tried to push him away... I owe Sam so much for being a blessing and bringing such an amazing person to me. Castiel, I owe you my life and there is nothing I can do to repay you for the kindness and patience you've shown me. I hope you'll be at my side until the day I die."

Castiel wiped his eyes and nodded, "I love you Dean, I will be there as long as you need me." he wept softly, "I wanted to thank you for brightening my life, for letting me into your family even though everything was so hard for you. I wish I could say I had been perfect for you but you're right, without Sam we wouldn't be here right now. And after everything we've been through I want you to know I'm so very proud to be a Winchester, finally. I wish Sam were here to see us in person, but I know he's watching from heaven. I'd like to thank him as well, for demanding you bring me a fruit basket, for insisting I come over for dinner every night and stay over on weekends. He gave you to me as much as he gave me to you, I don't know where I'd be with you."

"I love you too, Castiel, and I will be in your life for the rest of eternity." Dean pulled Castiel closer, their eyes never losing contact.

"You may now kiss your spouse."

Fallout Part 2

Stepping free from the mainline Castiel sighed heavily, knowing immediately that he was alone. "Goddamn it... If the three of them are together I'm going to throw something." He grumbled as he started to look around. The building he was in was run down, decrepit and possibly falling apart; he didn't want to push against any structurally important walls to find out. It looked a grocery store of some kind, though all the shelves were entirely empty. As well, among the rubble and debris there were corpses of humans, mutated humans, and some monsters he couldn't identify. 'Lovely, this reality has monsters normally. It's going to be ridiculous trying to explain this to anyone if we have to...'

As Castiel roamed for an exit he heard footsteps and voices, none of which sounded familiar from where he was. He pressed himself against a wall and listened closer, Cas thought maybe one of them might be a Sam, but the strange, gruff sounding one was entirely foreign.

"I'm telling you someone's raided this one already," The one who sounded like Sam grumbled as they got closer.

"Shut it, Sammy, I know what it looks like but I'm telling you there's something else here." Cas at least got confirmation on the one being Sam. The other one still sounded like he was gargling water as he spoke, with a seriously sore throat or something.

Considering the area and dead bodies Cas figured he'd be shot at first and spoken to afterward if he didn't make himself known right away. "Hey," He called out loud enough for them to hear.

"Is that Cas?" Sam asked.

"Sounds like him."

Castiel listened as the footsteps came closer and a half broken door was kicked open. He looked up and first smiled at Sam, then saw the thing walking with him. Its skin was deteriorated to the point that it looked more like a zombie than anything, decomposing while still walking around and talking. Its hair had fallen out in patches and any skin that was still left was discoloured. Cas' eyes widened and fear gripped him the thing looked up. He'd never mistake that face, even if it were dead and disintegrating; that was Dean. "Oh my god..." He choked the words out, his hand coming up to cover his mouth as his stomach twisted and threatened to loose anything he'd eaten.

Dean growled low and stalked forward with his gun up, "That's not Cas."

"Dean, calm down," Sam stepped ahead of him and forced his gun lower. "I... I think that thing you were talking about is him."

"It definitely wasn't but if you wanna talk to him don't blame me if you get shot." That voice was so rough; Cas figured he knew why now.

Sam nodded his appreciation and went to approach Castiel with his hands up, "We can tell you aren't the Castiel we know, where are you from? What are you?"

"I'm a High Priest of The Faith," Castiel didn't know what else to say, he was still in too much shock about Dean's appearance and state to really think about anything else. "I've been tasked with travelling through different dimensions, realities, and timelines in an attempts to liberate them from a threat."

Sam glanced back at Dean who looked a little less pissed off, "See? Sounds important." He turned to Cas again and motioned for him to follow, "I think we should get the full story somewhere safer, come with us."

"I..." Castiel swallowed past the lump in his throat, he never thought he'd be physically face to face with a decomposed Dean. He'd seen it in his nightmares too many times but now it was right in front of him. 'That's not Dean, that's not your Dean, it's okay.' He reminded himself, "Yes, if you don't mind. I'm with three others, a Dean, Sam, and Jet."

"Sounds about right," Dean chuckled, shouldering his gun and heading for the exit, "C'mon, let's meet up with Cas and Jet, I wonder if they found anything interesting on their run."

Sam nodded and followed his brother out. He wasn't new to running around the Capitol Wastelands but he wasn't experienced in raiding like Dean was, following his big brother was probably the best option at that time.

"What happened here?" Castiel asked as they exited the building, everything looked so desolate it was kind of disturbing.

"From what I remember reading as a kid," Sam glanced over at Dean, they both knew that readings Sam was speaking of weren't entirely reliable, "And what I've gathered since then, there was something called The Great War over 200 years ago. It started and ended October 23, 2077 and lasted approximately 2 hours when all nuclear capable countries launched their weapons. A nuclear warhead and an atomic bomb were the last things dropped, ever since the world has been in a nuclear holocaust."

"You know quite a bit from when you were a kid until now, did someone keep track of this information?" Cas was pretty shocked to hear it and at a loss for words. He figured there'd be a reality where that had happened but to actually be in it was breathtakingly awful.

"Gathered from all over the place," Sam replied, smiling back at him. "I like to know things like history, used to be the teacher of a small town."

"Little Lamplight, you were like 14 teaching other little kids." Dean added, "Isn't actually as impressive as you make it sound."

Cas chuckled; glad to see that even post apocalyptic world Sam and Dean could argue like brothers. "And... Dean?" He fidgeted and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for reacting to you that way..."

"It's alright, I'm used to it." Dean shrugged, "Mostly, anyway. I was more upset that someone might be impersonating Cas."

"He's important to you?"

"Best thing that ever happened to me, and the worst." Dean chuckled and glanced over at Sam who shrugged in return. "Cas spared my life, took me in when he had no reason to, and then saved my ass more times than I can count. Granted I saved him too, but it doesn't seem like the same thing."

"To be fair, Cas is a hard-ass, cold killing machine." Sam pointed out as they trekked across the wasteland with few qualms about what they stepped on or what they passed. "He's mean and has a hell of a temper, so I think putting up with him half the time is pay back enough."

"Watch it, Sammy." Dean warned, looking at his little brother again. They seemed so much harder and colder, like Sam had said about the other Castiel. It was sad to see, really. Cas couldn't wait to get back to his friends.

Which was also extremely odd for him, he had spent centuries alone, had grown frigid to others as well and yet here he was now; wishing he could see his friends. His heart skipped every time he saw Dean, his partner and friend; there was more to their relationship now though he had no idea what. There was Sam who he'd love as his family no matter what. Cas had a soft spot for Sam's; he'd never hurt one if he had a choice in the matter. And then of course Jet had somehow weaseled his way into Cas' stubborn heart. He was charming in his own way, kind of funny when he wanted to be and had his uses. Castiel had never known a Jet back in his own world but he'd met several along the way and it was kind of nice to see that someone else was consistent in personality.

"So what kind of establishment is set up, if this is a nuclear holocaust?" He knew he'd need to ask questions about things to know what was normal before he jumped at every little oddity he ran into.

"It started off as a safe haven for ex-slaves at Lincoln Memorial," Dean was the one to answer; his voice still gave Cas shivers. "But the past few months have been a bit weird, a lot of people have come in from wandering around in the Capital Wasteland looking for help. We're more like a small town now, armed to the teeth and under the command of a very capable leader."

"Who's your leader?"

"Jet," Dean smirked back at him, "You said you know one, right?"

"I… I do…" Cas had no words for what he was feeling. "Jet's your leader?"

"He's smart," Sam nodded, adjusting his weapon and checking around their immediate area for enemies. "He's always got a plan, running for supplies, battle strategies, figuring out how to get more money, et cetera. What gets people though is that he's both incredibly strong and kind. He used to be a slave along with most of the people from Lincoln Memorial; he rallied the people together and warred against the largest group of slavers around. Jet's a great guy."

Cas nodded a little, his face expressing the phrase 'not bad' as best it could without him actually saying it. "It's weird…"

"Why's that?" Dean sounded a bit defensive; evidently he was a good friend with Jet in this reality as well.

"Well the Jet I know is a bit of a moron." Castiel chuckled.

"That is weird." Both Winchesters agreed simultaneous.

"So how far are we walking here?"

Sam shrugged and looked at his map, "I'd say… half a day maybe? Depends on our pace."

Cas sighed heavily but didn't complain out loud, he could tell when he was in the company of no-nonsense people like himself. He almost hated how much the others had rubbed off on him, joking around all the time and laughing. It made him look stupid in front of people like these. 'And when were you so concerned about how you looked to others?' He thought dismally to himself.

Jet was the first to make it back to Lincoln Memorial, his unconscious other self chained up and being dragged behind him. He and his right hand man Longshot had taken a caravan out to collect supplies for the growing population, Longshot got to sit in the caravan as it rolled along, drawn by tame Brahmin. Jet on the other hand walked along beside it, watching the chain to make sure it was still tied to the back of their caravan. The town opened up to him gratefully, people were excited to see him so soon with supplies and more importantly decent food. Jet greeted them all as they came to him, some informing him that a few more people had arrived from the wasteland, others thanking him, and of course the ones who had complaints.

All in all it was pretty normal for him aside from the dead weight attached to their supply run. "Someone tie him up outside our zone and question him, okay?" He asked a couple of his people who hadn't been tasked with doing much of anything, handing over the chain to the biggest one. "I know it's really weird, just get what you can out of him."

"Yes sir," The two replied happily, more than excited to do something for Jet that seemed important.

"They're pretty gung-ho…" Longshot muttered.

"It's been a while since we've done anything more than supply runs, people are getting anxious. I guess they feel like things have gone too well for us." Jet stretched his arms and cracked his back, "That and those two haven't quite been pulling their weight. Anyway, time to unload this crap, c'mon people!"

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading, as always ;) Please let me know your thoughts on the story so far, or in general. Again if you'd had any ideas about Void monsters I'd like to hear them!