Wild West World: Part 3

Earlier

The rendezvous point was abandoned, Dean hopped off of Chevy, Sam's horse, and Jet slid from his stallion with ease. They were the first ones to arrive. Sam and Jet exchanged a look, nothing was proven yet and there was no way they could definitely trust Dean.

"Sit there," Jet shoved him toward a pile of rubble and Dean cooperated, his family was most likely on their way right to him after all.

"So you guys are gonna treat me like a criminal until proven innocent, is that it?"

"You showed up at a bad time," Sam gave a strained smile and quick nod of his head to answer his question.

"Cool," Dean twiddled his thumbs and looked around, waiting impatiently for anyone else to show up.

It took far too long, the sun was on the verge of setting and no one had arrived yet. He was hoping someone would've been waiting for him there to prove him right but as his luck would hold out, no one was around. He watched Sam and Jet talking just out of earshot, they kept an eye on him but Dean intended to wait for his friends so he didn't find it necessary. It was nice to see them together though; he smiled at the sight and just let it linger on his retinas for a while longer.

"Looks like they're back and it's… Dean and Cas." Sam muttered and glanced at their captive again, "Okay there are two Deans."

"So he was right, and if he was then that's not our Cas." Jet gave his approaching friend a wave, Impala slowed his pace and trotted into the area.

The outlaw Dean glanced over at his priest-self and then back to Sam and Jet, "You guys have been having some adventures without me?"

"One or two," Sam smirked and motioned for his brother's duplicate to come closer, "Alright you can come over here now."

"Thank you," Dean hustled over to Castiel's side and gave his partner a hug, "Have you seen Sam?"

"Not yet, I was hoping he'd be here." Cas replied, his eyes darted over to Jet and Dean watched him make the strangest face. Cas looked happy to see Jet but it was strained, sadness swelled in his eyes as he turned his gaze back to Dean. "It's odd seeing him, knowing we won't…"

"We won't be meeting up with ours, I know what you mean." Dean sighed and hugged Cas again, he wasn't sure if the embrace was for himself, for Castiel, or both but he figured they both needed it. "But for now they're missing their Cas and we're missing Sam. I can only assume they're together."

"That's the pattern."

The three cowboys stood together and regarded the two strangers with some interest before huddling again, "So what do we know?" Dean asked his brother and old friend.

"First where's Cas?" Sam furrowed his brow at his brother and the outlaw shrugged guiltily.

"He wanted to confront Michael, I told him that if shit went bad we'd high-tail it out of there to the rendezvous point. I'm guessing he doesn't intend to give up so easily on an old friend of his."

"That dumb fuck." Jet shook his head, "So we going back out there to get him?"

"No," Sam was the first to say, "He might've escaped a different direction, he'll be heading here and we need to wait for him."

"So, then what do we all know about these weird doppelgangers?" Dean tried to change the subject to something that didn't involve his boyfriend.

"Different reality stuff, save the world babble, and something about taking out the shadows." Jet replied matter-of-factly. "Oh, and they don't have another me which I find racist."

Sam scoffed, "Racist how?"

"I don't know, racist against the Jet species?"

"Stop talking before you sound stupider than you already do."

Dean cleared his throat to get their attention again, "That other Cas said those things were called Spiritus, apparently they can take care of them. I'm not sure how exactly but he did some weird magic shit so I'm not putting anything past him." Dean furrowed his brow as he muttered his words carefully, he didn't want the strangers to hear. "What's the plan then? Trust them?"

Sam bit his lip and glanced at the priests who respectfully kept their distance from the pow-wow. "I'm not sure, for now maybe but don't over look them. If they can take down these, whatever you called them –Spiritus, then they can probably fight us pretty easily too."

"What are you talking about? They look like pussies, look at how clean they are." Jet motioned a little dramatically toward the strangers, "Probably haven't been in a real fight in their lives."

"I wouldn't judge 'em so quick," Dean tilted his head as he regarded Cas a little more, "That one has some tricks up his sleeves."

Jet followed Dean's gaze, his face scrutinizing as he contemplated it until he conceded. The three broke their huddle and went to approach the other Dean and Castiel, "You guys want to fill us in on what's happening around here?" Jet asked them, "We've got some time to kill."

The priests shared a look and shrugged, "Sure, allow me." Castiel said and Dean sat down to listen to it, even though he'd heard pretty much all of it before it was nice to get a recap. But more than that he loved the way Castiel spoke about it all, it'd been his life for so long he just knew the ins and outs of the worlds. Cas went through the basics of the Faith and the Void, high priests and what they can do, and even a little on the concept of the celestial beings behind it all.

"My time alone was difficult and spanned more years than I'd care to share, but over that entire period of time I got almost nothing done. Just as I explained before, all priests have a partner, someone they share an intimate bond with. But it's more than that; the connection between priests is what gets them into the worlds that matter. The worlds and realities that make a difference in this struggle of ours were locked off to me until I found Dean," Cas smiled at his lover and received a grin in return, "After that the newest part of the Mainline opened to us."

"Sounds complicated," Outlaw Dean remarked after taking a swig from his flask, "From what you told me earlier you don't know how to stop this Void thing, right? How do you know there's an end to all of it?"

"I have faith it will end, but more than that I believe in the skills of all the priests that are fighting out there. There is a team prophesied to end it all, that wording alone tells me that there has to be something to finish this. I just haven't found it yet." Castiel pointedly omitted the part that he and Dean were the ones he was talking about, but it didn't take a genius to figure it out.

Jet raised an eyebrow but didn't mention whatever had really crossed his mind, "So is every priest looking for a way to stop it or just you guys?"

Dean shrugged as he shook his head, "We've only met a couple of other teams but from what I can tell they're all fighting and who's to say they aren't keeping an eye on for a way to finish this? We've realized that it'll take more than brute strength and determination to fight the Void, that's all. I'm pretty sure there's more to it than all that."

"But you haven't figured that out yet?" The other Dean squinted at him in the setting sunlight. "It's one of the most important parts to winning against this thing and you don't really have that figured out?"

"The more answers we find the more questions we have," Cas explained further with a hint of annoyance, "It's not easy, if you'd like to trade places be our guest. I'd gladly settle down somewhere else."

The amount of aggression in his tone didn't slip past his partner; Dean looked at Cas' strained expression and realized just how much it'd all gotten to him. Castiel looked his way and Dean tried to offer a smile but it didn't feel right, Cas needed something else. He pulled his lover over, a hand slipped into the soft dark hair on the back of Cas' head and Dean rested their foreheads together. Words weren't exchanged but they stared at one another for a long moment.

Cas' eyes shifted from angry to tired and he closed them, a heavy breath exhaled between the two priests. "I'm sorry."

"You've been through a lot, sometimes I forget you used to be married, lived a quiet life and all that." Dean's mouth pulled up in a mild smirk, "You don't have anything to be sorry about, Cas."

"Incoming," Jet interrupted their intimacy abruptly, his voice sharp as he stood at attention with his hand on his holster. "Team of horses and I doubt Cas is part of it."

"Son of a bitch." Dean and Sam stepped forward in unison and drew their guns in the same breath. They'd run out of options.

"We should run." Sam suggested, "Cas wants Michael alive."

"We have to stay here until Cas gets back," Dean argued and leveled his pistol at Michael's head. "I'm not gonna wait until they're on us."

"Hold on!" Castiel rushed in front of them, his hands raised to stop Dean's assault, "Don't kill the host, we can save them."

"Then do it." Sam demanded, ready to follow his brother's lead.

Cas looked at his partner, "Go on."

"What?" Dean sputtered, "What happened to that we stuff?"

"I can kill the Spiritus but it kills the host. Remember? I can't remove a possessor."

Dean opened his mouth to speak but shrugged, "Alright, fair enough." He turned and rushed to meet the onslaught of enemies, his stick drawn and already transformed into a flat disc. He angled the reflective surface toward Michael's horse; Dean did his best to distract the creature with the sun's light and grinned when it worked out in his favour. Michael's ride reared up and as the head of the pack stalled, the rest bolted past.

He recalled Sam's possession and the feeling that had coursed through him. Without the panic and fear of losing someone important to him, it was actually a lot simpler than he'd made it out to be. Just like Cas had done countless times before him Dean lifted a hand toward the rushing men and women and let his magic take over.

In a quick flash of light their bodies fell into a slow motion pocket in time, the spiritus burst out of their backs and sprawled over in complete delirium. Dean grinned as Castiel flowed ahead of him, as graceful as he'd ever been before and as always caught Dean's attention. He was wicked and so fast, Cas brought down a league of pain onto the creatures before them and in the same motion obliterated the shadowy figures. Dark particles evaporated into the air around him as he stepped over the unconscious bodies of the Void's victims, Dean just loved watching Cas work.

Michael hadn't stopped his charge despite the distraction but found that he couldn't change his mind soon enough. Dean stood at Cas' side and the spiritus leader knew with certainty that he was at the mercy of the high priests.

Dean knocked the man possessed off his horse and easily pinned him down to the ground, Castiel's gun pressed to the back of his skull for good measure. The cowboys whistled amongst themselves and exchanged quick looks.

"Alright, maybe not a bunch of pussies." Jet conceded with a laugh, "Damn."

"You're the first sentient Void filth we've run into in a while," Cas snarled at the thing, "Before I blow you to kingdom come, you have anything you'd like to say?"

Michael's shoulders trembled as he started to laugh, a deranged smile spread across his lips, "Kill me, it won't stop him."

"Who?" Dean barked as he twisted the man to face him, "What's he doing?"

"Our king, the Imperator." It boasted as it fell into hysterical laughter, "He's finally got a body to rule in and you're all going to die! All of you are dead!"

Dean and Castiel turned to one another and Cas shook his head; no more need to speak to a monster that had lost its mind. Dean sent a jolt through Michael's body and the spiritus leader surged to the surface of its host's skin and exploded out the opposite side. Michael collapsed immediately and Cas angled his gun appropriate to shoot the leader in the head. The same burst of black spurted into the air around them, the whole scene the outlaws in surprise at how easily their problem had been handled.

"Your friend's alive, his arm was injured it appears, but no less living." Cas addressed them without looking their way, his eyes on the festering darkness as it disappeared.

As they stood in silence for a short time Dean noticed the sound of horses again, "Someone else is coming," he called and looked to where it was coming from. Ahead he saw one horse and two men riding it, "I think it's Sam."

Everyone squinted first and a soft sigh of relief was heard, "Thank god," Dean muttered as he took off his hat.

"Worried about him, huh?" Jet elbowed his friend and received a jab right back.

"Obviously, weren't you?"

"Nah, Cas can handle himself."

The two rode up and looked around, "Looks like we missed a hell of a party." Cas grinned and hopped off Angel, "Anything I ought to know?"

"Michael's alive, just unconscious," Dean went to hug him but it became much more than that when his boyfriend caught him in a kiss. Their tongues slipped past one another's lips and their arms tightened around each other.

"You left me there," Cas muttered when they broke apart, his face lit up like a tavern open late into the night.

"You were supposed to be right behind me." Dean kissed him again and nuzzled his cheek. "Glad you're okay though."

The two priests went to Sam's side as he carefully climbed down, "Never thought I'd ride one of those," he admitted sheepishly.

Dean stood between Sam's gaze and where the other Jet was standing, "Same, it was a wild ride too."

"Tell me about it, for a second I thought I was in one of your old westerns or something." Sam laughed softly and glanced over at the world's original inhabitants. Dean knew the instant Sam's eyes caught a glimpse of his boyfriend's duplicate.

"It's not him, Sam." Dean whispered as his brother passed by.

"I know, just… just let me do this okay?" Sam replied softly and went to get a better look.

Jet was attempting to keep his eyes away from the loving couple so Sam's approach wasn't unwelcome, "Hey other Sam," he greet casually.

"Hi," Sam barely managed the single word as he strained to keep a straight face. He just stood there after though, taking in the sight of a ghost in his mind. 'He's not dead.' He reminded himself. 'He's waiting to see you, he's out here somewhere and you have to find him, quit fucking around.'

"You okay?" Jet furrowed his brow at him and Sam nodded.

"Yeah, fine." He turned back to Cas and Dean, "We done here?"

"I guess so, yeah." Dean shrugged as Cas nodded the same.

"Good, come on we should keep going."

Cas went to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Did you want to rest first-"

"No, let's go." Sam interrupted impatiently and motioned in front of him, "Make the portal."

"Alright," Dean looked over at their cowboy counterparts one more time to admire himself and how awesome he looked, "Thanks again guys, good luck I guess."

"You too," his other self grinned and waved them off.

Author's Note:

Just wanted to throw another quick thank you out there, hope you're all still enjoying the read :)