-"Baby, I get so scared inside and I don't really understand. Is it love that's on my mind or is it fantasy?"-

Fallout: Part 4

"Heya, you're the ones claiming to be from another world?" The leader entered the medical building, not wasting any time as he did so. He gave a quick nod to Castiel; the raider stoically perched to watch the new comers.

"That's us," Dean stood and went to meet this alternate form of his best friend. It was so weird to see Jet this way, scars on his face, cold and calculating eyes, he was bigger physically and he was decked out to the nines with weapons. Seemed to be the norm for people in this world. "There's one other with us, he'll look like Cas here."

Jet raised an eyebrow at Dean, a small smile coming to his lips. "Alright… I've got absolutely no reason to trust you, you'll understand if we're a bit paranoid about this." He took a few steps around Dean, something about his expression spoke of nostalgia though no words were actually said.

"You owe us something!" Sam snapped suddenly and Dean couldn't believe this was coming from his little brother. "Your goons tied and beat our friend!"

"Beating him wasn't part of the order but I imagine it was necessary?" Jet responded coolly, taking another look to Castiel for confirmation.

"I can't say how necessary it was at the end, the man was unconscious when we arrived though the monkey you told to watch him was still pounding him." Castiel's answer was even and directly to the point, not intending to make anything up.

"I'm surprised," Dean smiled at Cas, "I thought you'd try and make your leader look good in front of us."

"He's not my leader," Castiel snarled at him, "He's an ally, I just happen to live here. It's convenient."

Jet chuckled, "Some people might say 'friend,' Cas. Hm?"

Castiel rolled his eyes and looked toward the door the nurse would come from.

"At any rate," Jet folded his arms over his chest and leaned back on his left foot, chewing thoughtfully on the inside of his cheek, "I hadn't thought my men would do that… the ones that did it, where are they?"

"I shot the one doing it, the other was one of the orphans from Little Lamplight, scrawny twerp couldn't do anything." Cas muttered.

"I see… Dean, right?"

"Yeah?" Dean was slightly ashamed at how quickly he responded to that.

Jet just smiled at him for it before his expression returned to 'leader-mode,' "Can you explain to me what you're doing here? Why the guy in that other room looks like me, and you two resemble my buddy and his little brother?"

Again, it was strange to hear it coming from someone who seemed so cold. Everyone in that world was like that; Dean made a mental note to hug his travelling companions when he got the chance to. "Okay, it's like this-"

"You can see him now," The nurse entered as she spoke, looking over at Sam specifically, the one who appeared most concerned. "We've done what we can."

"What does that mean?" Sam stood up, unsure of what to really do with himself, looking to Dean for some kind of answer.

"He hasn't woken up yet, but his injuries will heal."

"So he'll wake up eventually?"

"We hope so."

Sam wanted to argue but didn't have it in him. Instead he left the room, Dean right on his heels to see their friend.

The Union leader looked over at the raider, neither knowing what to say. They still needed proper answers though, so Jet followed them inside. He didn't say a word at first, watching the way the other two reacted instead.

Sam was biting his bottom lip and sitting at Jet's bedside, just looking at the beaten and unmoving form lying so limply. "It's… not right." He muttered.

"Sam," Dean put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "It'll be okay."

"No… I'll never un-see this." Sam looked at him angrily; his eyes wet and focused. "Jet's always been there and he's always been so strong. He's the one who gathered the money to pay for the hospital bills; he's the one who came to see me even though he didn't have to, and tried to make me laugh. He's the one who came to comfort me when you left to find Castiel even though I called at a ridiculous hour… Dean, Jet had no reason to come out here but he did because I refused to stay home. What if he doesn't wake up?"

"He will." Dean insisted strongly, his tone unchanging. "Jet's never let us down before, we still need him so he'll be here. He's just resting, okay? The guy went a few rounds with some asshole armed with a metal knuckle while he was chained down, give him a few hours to sleep it off."

Sam stared at him for a few seconds before nodding and looking away quickly. "Sorry… I… I wasn't expecting this. We've never had this happen to us because of the people before…"

"I know," Dean wished he hadn't realized the same thing. He still didn't know where Cas was and that was eating away at him.

"If he's anything like me I think he'll wake up." Jet spoke from the doorway, a half smile on his face.

Dean nodded, "Right, well I think we could at least explain to you what's going on."

-"Heaven is in the palm of my hand and it's waiting here for you. What am I supposed to do with a childhood tragedy?"-

Jet could hear them; he could hear every word and almost feel the light touch of Sam's hand resting on his. If he could just give his fingers a squeeze, reassure him that he was there, Jet would. But he couldn't move. He could hardly think straight and he found that more alarming than anything else. He'd been beaten senseless before, he knew what it felt like and how waking up was going to be. He'd never felt like he was floating in a limbo space like this, half awake and aware but unable to really focus.

He tried to speak but he couldn't move his mouth to form words. He did, however, manage to make the most pathetic sound with his vocal chords. Jet couldn't hear it right but judging from the way Sam's hand fluttered to his forehead, how it trembled there, he knew it was probably better not to make any noise at all.

'How do I do this?' He struggled with himself, wanting to speak, wanting to think straight and wanting to move but nothing. Nothing until he realized he was separated from himself. He stepped away from his central senses; Jet realized he wasn't in control. He couldn't force himself to do anything because he wasn't actually there. Instead he watched from what felt like inside his own head, disconnected to his own motor functions.

'What the actual fuck…' He thought as he looked around, the space was dark and reminiscent of the strange feeling he got when he looked into the Void from the mainline road. It was too similar to be anything else. He glanced around at the area around him, he couldn't see anything or hear anything, just the distant hints of the Winchesters in conscious-land. Just as he was starting to think he might be safe, he heard a low groaning echo from behind him.

'OH! Son of a bitch!' Jet cursed when he felt the rumble that followed. 'You've got to be kidding me!? I'm the freaking target this time? Fan-fucking-tastic…' He swallowed nervously and looked around, hoping to spot nothing and that this was the extent of the monster's ability. But when was his luck ever that good?

'No big deal,' He told himself, 'Dean and Cas'll take care of it and I'll be fine.' But Cas was nowhere to be found and Dean and Sam thought he was just unconscious from getting his head smashed a few times. Jet's eyes widened when he realized it; 'They have no idea…' He looked back toward what he somehow knew was the source of his senses, what was hearing the Winchesters, feeling the gentle touch, and attempting to make noise. 'I have to tell them it's here. Fuck my life.'

He went back to where he'd pulled away from the first time. He pushed his arms into the black, smokey space where they'd been embedded before. When he'd stepped back originally it was like walking away from a space fitted to his exact size, shape, every detail was spot on. He fit perfectly and it was where he was supposed to be, like whatever his subconscious was made of now had been carved out of his original mindset. He was supposed to be able to step right in and meld back into place, but he couldn't. He was trying to melt into himself and just take over, but it really wasn't intent on letting him. Whatever 'it' was; Jet didn't have a mental version of Castiel to give him names and shit like that though he really wouldn't mind a high priest popping in to help out a little.

That was when he received the luxury of meeting the beast face to face. The dark gaseous state the space had originally been in had shifted, it was more of a liquid but completely impermeable and unyielding. Jet pushed against it a few times until it pushed back, something morphing out of the proverbial wall in front of him. It was entirely black with no real shape, beady golden eyes staring at him and through him with what he could imagine was a sinister little grin. Jet stepped back again, furrowing his brow and attempting to shake the feeling of fear that was slipping in. He hadn't been this close to one of the void monsters, other than when Sam was possessed and even then he didn't really see anything but Sam. He couldn't think of anything but saving his best friends so now, when it was all about him, he didn't know what to do. His heart raced and limbs started to stiffen.

Its face drifted back into the wall where it had been, vanishing away like there was no real rule as to where it could be. The thing wasn't in front of him; it was all around him. The space he was in was his own mind but it was encompassed and coated in this dark, malleable thing. Jet exhaled slowly to calm himself down though he hadn't realized he'd needed it. "Fuck." He cursed and ran his hands into his hair, looking around at the way everything shifted and moved.

-"If I close my eyes forever, will it all remain unchanged?"-

"You think he'll be okay?" Sam muttered again, running a hand over Jet's forehead and into his hair. He'd made such a strangled sound before, it was alarming and discomforting and Sam just wanted to see him open his eyes and say 'punching me doesn't keep me down' or something stupid like that.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, Sam. He's had the shit kicked out of him before, he'll be fine."

"Not like this he hasn't…" Sam frowned and rested his hand on the top of Jet's head, just leaving it there absently.

Dean wasn't sure what else to say, they were sitting and waiting for the other Castiel and Jet to finish discussing what they thought was going on. They'd mentioned that their Sam and Dean were further out so they'd take about a day to return, meaning that his Cas was probably with them. As much as Dean was worried about Jet he knew his friend could handle a few punches, even if they were weaponized. But was that really what he should be worried about? He knew that Castiel had been doing this for centuries on his own, and he was fine because he was a high priest, strong, capable, magical and incredibly smart. Jet was a normal guy, as tough as he was he was still a normal guy. 'I really should be more worried about you, shouldn't I?' He thought with a half smile at his friend's neutral expression. Somehow he still wasn't. Jet was the guy that always seemed to pull through even though everything said it was impossible. Granted he should have woken up by now, shouldn't he?

They sat together, quiet and waiting for something. The raider and Union leader had insisted that nothing 'extra' strange had been happening at their camp other than the arrival of body doubles. Dean could hear the movement of men around the grounds; everyone was geared up and ready just in case something did happen. It was good to be prepared, he supposed. Post-apocalyptic craziness seemed to be a thing around there.

Castiel returned after a few hours, not even giving a sympathetic glance toward Jet he prodded Dean's side with his rifle, "Winchester," his eyes were as cold as ever and he vaguely reminded Dean of the first time he'd met his Cas. It'd been impossible to weasel under his hardened skin, Cas had been so cold toward him and angry and this guy was exactly the same. He was hurting; Dean realized it now after unraveling the mystery of his own Cas. Somewhere under all that rage this Castiel was struggling with himself and a lot of other things. But how could he not? Look at where he lived.

"Yeah?" Dean finally answered after receiving a stern glare, "What's up?"

"They sent someone to collect our wayward brothers, see if your priest is there with them. If he is we'll be asking him more about these void monsters, since you don't seem to know much."

"Good call, Cas has been at this a long time." Dean nodded and relaxed a bit, glad to hear that they'd be at least bringing his partner back to him.

In the following moments Dean couldn't really begin to explain what happened. Jet's body convulsed and he arched against the bed, his shoulders digging down and his head tilting back hard. He screamed as he slammed back down, arms lashing out suddenly and catching hold of Sam's shirt.

"Sam!" Dean thought he'd been hit but instead Jet had pulled himself up toward the younger Winchester.

Sam stared down at terrified eyes, he could tell Jet wanted to speak, to scream again or say something but somehow it wasn't working for him. "Jet?" Sam managed to croak out, "It's okay, you're safe." He didn't know what was happening or what he should say but if Jet was disoriented from the beating then he needed to know he was okay.

Jet shook his head and Sam could see the consciousness fleeting in his eyes, back and forth like a wave, like he was fighting so hard to stay awake.

Dean went to his friend's side and put a hand on his shoulder, "Jet, man, you're alright. Just get some sleep okay? You'll feel better when you wake up."

"No." Jet's voice was so soft and distant and he sounded more scared than Sam or Dean had ever heard. He tried to say something more but his body fell limp again, the word vanishing with his consciousness and hanging in the air.

"What… what was that?" Dean gasped out, turning Jet's head to lie flat, immediately trying to move him into a less twisted position and get him comfortable.

Sam was too surprised, Jet's fingers still hooked into his shirt and weighing him down slightly. "I… I don't know. What was he trying to say?"

"Help." Castiel replied so nonchalantly you might think he'd said something as simple as chocolate milk. "He was asking for help."

Dean snapped his gaze back to Jet's face, it looked so much less neutral now, the remnants of his terror still lingering there. "What's happening to you?"

-"If I close my eyes forever, will it all remain the same?"-