Author's Note:

Holy shit 2 months since an update. Sorry guys, I could give a bunch of excuses like school, holidays, and heart troubles I've been having but I don't think they're excuses you want to hear so I'll skip all that. Hope someone's still reading this, leave me a review or a favourite or something to kinda let me know XD

In Between

Castiel walked up the familiar steps and expected to see the three celestials in their formation as per usual, except they weren't. In fact the illusory wall was gone entirely. Three figures emerged before them, still dressed in the robes and garments, faces hidden as always but their sizes were much smaller than they'd ever been. They were the same size as the adventurers entering their realm. Castiel furrowed his brow as he came closer, he could remember seeing them for the first time, he'd heard their voices and felt their presence but it was so much bigger back then. When had they gotten so small?

The center being looked up slowly from where he was perched, a resting position between the other two. He huffed out a laugh and shook his head, "I suppose I should have seen this one coming." The voice was oddly similar to Castiel's and they all pieced it together pretty quickly. All three of the celestials pulled the robes from their bodies and dropped the garments to the floor. Three recognizable faces gazed up at them, a Sam, a Jet, and a very pale and sick Castiel.

"Surprise," the celestial Sam exclaimed dryly, a forced smile on his face. "You probably knew it was us for a while, didn't you?"

"I'm a little surprised." Jet raised his hand with a smirk.

"Why are you posing as celestial beings?" Castiel demanded of them, pushing past the pleasantries and useless questions. "From the journal that you gave to us we know what they were supposed to look like, what they were supposed to be is nothing like what you three have been."

"It's close enough," the other Sam shrugged and wandered a bit closer; he wasn't scared of them or their questions. "We told you things you needed to know, we put you through the training you needed to become a full fledged priest, I even offered my journal to you."

"We didn't try to kill you, either." The celestial Jet pointed out and his Sam nodded to him in agreement.

"But why didn't you just tell me?" Cas felt his voice shake a little; he was angry, confused, and worried about so many things that were going to happen at some point in his future.

"Until Dean was ready for you you hadn't seen other versions of yourself, or him. How could we just say it?" Cas' alternate self studied them with a sad look to his face. "Too many things could have gone wrong, what matters right now is that you're here together and you're stronger than we were."

Castiel was about to protest again but Dean placed a hand on his shoulder, "Cas, look at him, he's not pretending anymore." Cas stiffened at first but listened to his partner and took in the sight of his counterpart; he really didn't look well.

"If it was better we didn't know then why did you come out to us now?" Sam continued the questions; his curiosity would always come out when it burned in him regardless of the situation.

"Because Cas can't take in anymore." The other Sam explained and observed his old friend from where he stood. "Every time you visit us he gets weaker. He lost the ability to speak to your minds already and holding up the illusion of being magnificent celestial phenomenon isn't easy."

They turned to look at the tired Cas who didn't flinch under their gaze; all he did was watch Dean with a familiar intensity. Dean knew it too well, he'd felt it the first time he saw Castiel in their town, sitting on top of that statue for some time. It was the look that Cas held when he missed Dean, when he was seeing what he thought to be a ghost or specter in his head. "Are you alright?" Dean asked after a moment, he knew the pain that Castiel could feel from losing him and it hurt him to know how much it hurt Cas.

At first it was quiet and as Dean took a few steps closer the other Castiel turned his head and covered his eyes, "I'm sorry," he rasped as his face tightened and jaw clenched, "it's hard to see you when you know it's me." His voice was so terribly meek and shaky it broke Dean's heart to hear it, they were all crushed at the sound. Cas took a slow breath and composed himself before looking back at them, a far more calm expression on his face as he spoke, "I'm not going to be here for much longer so I suggest you ask your questions."

"What's…" Castiel tried to speak to his weaker counterpart but couldn't quite find the strength; it was scary to see himself that way. "What's happening to you? To all of us? We've gotten bits and pieces of the story but I feel we're missing something."

"Our timeline," The other Cas had to take another breath and stopped, he looked at his Sam for help and Sam nodded without having to exchange a word as to what to do or say.

"Our timeline was corrupted when we lost my brother," Sam explained to them as he reached down and took his Cas' hand, a supportive and unspoken move on his part. "Dean sacrificed himself to save us, to protect Castiel from any further harm. The celestials cursed Cas, his energy was draining away and he'd die if they weren't killed first. But three immortal beings against one man, despite him being a high priest of prophesy, there wasn't even a question who'd win. But he did it; he gave everything up for us.

The celestials had been leading us along, tricking us for our entire journey. They knew everything about the Void and what would happen if it were unsealed. They aimed to take over, to rule every world and reality and eventually harvest the souls as the worlds rotted away; waking the Void was their best plan because the monsters and creatures would do all of the work for them. Of course, as the prophecy of the Faith states, 'If the Void is woken then so shall the High Priests wake,' and so they did, and the celestials kept track of where the strongest team would come in. Once we were together they led us in circles and away from the important battles, we were so far off course that when we discovered our destinies the odds were stacked so high against us." Sam paused and took a moment to recall the scenario, his eyes looked distantly past the group before him.

"The worlds reset from the time of the last team's awakening, Jet and I watched the chaos from the mainline as we looked out for Cas' unconscious body. It was insane and we were so scared, nothing moved around us, we didn't age or need to eat or sleep anymore. We basically died there when Dean did and when Cas woke up…" Sam gave Castiel's hand a squeeze as the false celestial sighed and rubbed at his eyes with a free hand. "We moved here, Cas decided that if we were going to exist then we would do something with ourselves. You," Sam looked to the healthy Castiel, "were the one the timeline was reset to. When you became a High Priest and were nearly killed was the first time you heard us and that was the first time my Cas pretended to be a celestial. He'd never been assaulted by a demoni like you had been; the Dean from In Somniantes in our timeline had been killed by the Sam who was possessed."

"The Sam in your timeline didn't die?" Castiel looked at his other self curiously, the old pain from that memory in his head.

"He did," Cas' expression held more emotion than he'd shown the entire time they'd known of him. "I was the one who killed him, when the demoni in him killed Dean I lost it and my magic woke up. I couldn't find all the pieces."

Both Castiel's were quiet and the room followed in their silence until the other Sam continued. "What's happening now is that the resetting of the worlds is finalizing. This Castiel is supposed to have turned into your Castiel but he's still here, which means his power and his strength is being transferred over."

"What happens to him when it's transferred?" Dean asked worriedly, his gaze stuck to the pale face of what looked like his lover, what could very well someday be his lover.

"I'll disappear." Castiel replied with a smile as he closed his eyes, "And get to see my partner again."

"Why?" Dean demanded and stalked forward, "Why do you have to die? Why can't you keep your energy?"

"Because you'll have no chance of survival if he does." The other Sam stepped in Dean's way, his eyes flickering with a burden they all carried in them. "The Void has not reset and it's only gotten stronger, Cas' strength will be transferred and so will Dean's."

"How?"

"His energy went into Jet and I," Sam motioned to the abnormally quiet member of their trio, "Once it's gone we'll probably vanish too."

"Wait, he can do that?" Jet scoffed and looked at the others.

"Apparently," the false celestial Castiel shrugged and laughed a little, "I haven't met many other priests and the ones I have come in contact with I haven't seen die. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if we could spit glitter."

"That's not very funny," Castiel frowned at his other self who just shrugged.

"So Dean and Cas get a power boost, is what you're telling us?" Jet asked, he took a glance at his other self but didn't as much want to see what he looked like as the other two. "This whole thing's going to get a lot harder as we go along, are they at least going to stand a chance in this shitstorm?"

"We're hoping." The sickly Cas spoke up again as he rose to his feet slowly; it was hard to watch him take those awkward steps to his counterpart. "Your magic has been increasing and it's difficult to control for you, but once you have all of mine, you'll have the control you need to carry this through. No more overpowered blackouts or unknown energy surges, you'll be able to handle yourself again." He smiled and leaned forward to hug the ache away. They both wrapped their arms around the other, the former celestial chuckling as the other priest sifted through some confusion and frustration about the whole subject. "I don't think I need to tell you to cherish your time with him."

Castiel smiled in return and shook his head as his corrupted version pulled away. "No, but I'm strong enough, you don't have to do this."

"Our time is up, there's nothing more I can do now."

"You could live." Cas insisted and his counterpart just smiled. There was a moment that they shared, it was unsaid but there was an understanding between them. The one that Castiel would live for was already dead a million times over, his death would be a relief. Cas bit his lip and nodded, "I understand, thank you. Your sacrifice won't be in vain, I'll do everything in our power to take these bastards to the ground."

"I trust that you will." The other Cas looked at Dean momentarily and gave him a little wave, "You're a beautiful soul, Dean Winchester, don't ever let that change. And you two, Sam and Jet, take care of each other. I've seen what Futurum showed you, good luck." He finally looked at his old companions and his skin was nearly translucent in that moment as he stood in front of his other self, the last pieces of him transferring over. "I love you, I'll see you there."

"Bye Cas." The corrupted Sam and Jet waved and nodded respectively, tears held back as they'd probably had that conversation more than once.

"Later, man."

"Wait," Dean cracked but it wasn't enough to stop him and the other Castiel erupted in a burst of light, all of which disappeared in his Cas who stood completely still as the energy fused with him. "Cas!" Dean ran over to his partner and caught him before Cas managed to become even slightly aware that he was falling.

"I'm okay," he reassured though his eyes fluttered closed, "Just… gotta get used to it."

Dean was frantic over Cas' wavering consciousness but the other Sam touched his shoulder and smiled, "It's alright, once it settles he'll be better than ever."

Dean didn't want to think about it, to consider what would happen next. All three of these people, these incarnations of people he knew were going to die one by one. Castiel was gone, just like that in a flash of light he vanished. Sam and Jet were next. Dean looked to the ones he knew, his Sam and his Jet, they were fine, they would be okay, but not the ones posing as celestials. "Can't you just keep it?" Dean argued as he looked up at the Sam he knew was resigned to a fate that shouldn't have been his.

"No, I can't. If you die again that's it, that's the end of all of us. If you die again I know what happens to him," he pointed at Dean's Sam, "And I can tell you it's better that I give this to you now." Sam knelt down beside Dean and tears fell down his face, despite the smile and relief he showed. "It's nice to see you but I need to see my brother. You know that a different version of them isn't good enough, they aren't yours. I'm sorry, Dean, I need… I need to give this to you."

"Just because they weren't born and raised in the same reality as you doesn't mean they aren't yours." Dean replied and looked Sam directly in the eye, "They might have grown up different or away from you but what matters, where it all counts and comes down to, they are your family. In every dimension." His expression softened and reached up to pull that Sam into a hug, "But I get it, you gotta do this so I'll… I'll let you go." Dean hugged him tighter and took a shaky breath; it took a lot for him to accept that, to say it out loud. "Every Dean loves you, Sammy."

Sam sniffled out a laugh and nodded but said nothing more, through his eyelids Dean noticed the flash of light and fell forward a little when there was no longer a body there to support his hug. He looked over at the last remaining member of the corrupted timeline, Jet stood on his own with a damaged expression as he stared at the space Sam used to be. "He didn't even say goodbye to you." Dean tried to sound light-hearted but it was too hard to think about, Sam was gone, a Sam, not his Sam but it still hurt. He believed what he'd said.

"He didn't want to." Jet shrugged and walked closer, he glanced at his other self who watched in the same sick silence that he'd been sitting in for nearly the entire exchange. "Sam told me he didn't want to hear it when I tried, that it wasn't over if I never did it. So I didn't."

Dean looked at him and really tried to see what Jet was feeling, who Jet was as he stood in front of him. "You're so different," Dean breathed through his grief, his arms still tight around Castiel who started to blink back to consciousness.

"Yeah, I guess the guy who said he'd never be tamed ended up more docile than anyone else." Jet chuckled at himself and gestured for Dean to stand up, "Put him down for a second."

Dean hesitated but listened; it was a dying man's wish. He locked eyes with the other version of his friend and felt his stomach churn as Jet leaned up to his shoulder and whispered in his ear; "Watch out for the one they call their master."

That was all he said before the other Jet vanished with the others. Dean felt his legs shake but he didn't budge, he couldn't have because Sam came forward to hug him and hold him up. Dean nestled into the embrace immediately and buried his face against his brother's shoulder, "Sam…" he exhaled shakily and tried to take a steady breath but it was anything but. Jet pulled Castiel up and brought him into the hug with the Winchester brothers. Dean felt a little faint just like Castiel had but he stayed conscious well enough, most of his strength came with the physical, not like Cas'.

They stayed that way for several minutes, they didn't want to face what would happen if they failed. The worlds would be destroyed but the idea of losing one another seemed like so much worse than anything else.