Title: Armageddon

Rating: T

Warnings: Major spoilers for "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords"; violence; mild language; allusions to rape (but I promise nothing explicit or graphic)

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! I've been away from home—am still away from home—and haven't had much time to write or even get online (outside of my phone) to update.

As always, thanks so much for the reviews! I haven't replied to them yet—sorry again—but I will get to it, I promise! As soon as I get home and have more time.

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Forty-Six

Sam plopped down next to his brother and Dean glanced over at him. Sam said nothing, staring across the room at Adam and leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

"Can I help you?"

"Just thinking," Sam said, absently running a hand through his hair. He hadn't looked away from Adam yet.

"Thinking," Dean said. "Well. That's nice. What about?"

"Family,"

"Family?"

"You. Me. Adam. I've just been thinking… you know, we're all we have, Dean. We don't have a lot to hold on to, but we've got each other."

Dean grunted and looked away from Sam, following his gaze to Adam. "Nothing I haven't said a million times to you already, Sammy."

Sam's jaw clenched and he finally looked away from Adam, staring down at his fists.

"We're all we've got and you're checking out in less than six months," Sam turned to face him then. "You're not even acting like it bothers you. Dean, you're—you're going to Hell."

Dean didn't even flinch. He glanced at Sam out of the corner of his eye and shrugged. "Nothing I can do about that, Sam. Deal is done."

"There's always something,"

"Sam—"

"I'm not going to let you go to Hell for me, Dean. I'm not. I'll find a way to save you—"

"Stop, Sam. Just stop. We've got bigger things to worry about then me and my soul, alright? We've got an alien dictator to take out, a broken world to fix. We can't take time out to try and stop something that we both know can't be stopped."

"We don't know that," Sam's voice was suddenly harsh and he shook his head violently. "There are plenty of things we don't know, Dean. Not that long ago aliens were just stupid stories, remember? Angels were myths! Things change. There has to be a way to stop this deal. There has to be."

"No," Dean's shoulders slumped. "No, Sam. There isn't. So don't waste your time stressing over this, alright? Let it go. Let me go. You've got to be here for Adam when I'm gone. Okay? So just stop. Don't worry about me. Worry about you. Worry about the kid."

Sam smiled a bitter, sharp smile. "You're an idiot if you think I'm just going to give up, Dean. You might not care about saving you, but I do. I'm not going to let you go to Hell."

He stood up and walked away. Dean watched him go and slumped back in his seat, dragging a hand over his face. He didn't have time to worry about himself. Not when he had to worry about Sam and Adam and the rest of the whole freaking world.

~/.\~

Reid twitched in his sleep, rolling over. His fists clenched and unclenched and he whimpered, his eyes squeezing tight. The Doctor rolled over and sat up, his body moving sluggishly as he slowly blinked himself away. His eyes found Spencer immediately and he jerked into action, putting a hand on the shaking man's shoulder.

"Spencer? Spencer, wake up." He shook him gently. "It's a nightmare, Spencer. It's alright. I'm here. Spencer…"

The younger man didn't wake. He whimpered and twitched and tried to move away from the Doctor's hands. Pushing himself up onto his knees, the Doctor took Spencer's face in his hands and leaned in close, pressing gently into his mind. He could feel the edges of his nightmare and he shoved against them, trying to yank Spencer away from it.

Suddenly, the young man's eyes snapped open and he pushed himself up, breathing heavily. He looked around wildly for several seconds and then settled on the Doctor, blinking rapidly.

"Doctor?" he rasped, his hands clumsily reaching out to grip his arms and tightening his fingers around the fabric of his shirt.

"You're alright, Spencer," the Doctor said softly. "It was a nightmare, that's all."

Spencer shivered and nodded, more to himself than in response to the Doctor. Gradually, he leaned back and let his hands drop from the Doctor's arms. He pressed himself against the wall and drew his knees up, scrubbing at his eyes. He didn't say anything for a long time, just breathing heavily and letting his gaze rove around the room.

Grey light was filtering in through the windows, pale and eerie. The Doctor sat back and watched Spencer, waiting for him to start talking. Finally, he cleared his throat and folded his legs beneath him.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Spencer," the Doctor assured him. "It was a nightmare."

Spencer swallowed heavily and closed his eyes. He looked tired. He had looked tired for months. The circles under his eyes were worse and he was ragged and paler than he had been. The Doctor wished fervently that he could make this all end that he could just get Spencer off of the ship permanently and make sure that he never had to deal with anything like this again.

He leaned forward and put his forehead against Spencer's. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm so sorry. And I promise you that I will get you and everyone else on this planet out of this. I will fix this."

Spencer smiled tiredly and shook his head.

"We'll fix this," he said. "All of us. You, me, Martha, the rest of humanity. Together."

The Doctor's smile felt more genuine then and he straightened up, preparing to say something else when the doors to the conference room were thrown open and the Master barged in, followed closely by two armed men and a pale, withdrawn Lucy.

"Ah, good, you're already awake!" the Master beamed at them. "Such a fine morning, isn't it?"

The Doctor moved slightly so that he was covering Spencer somewhat and he stared at the Master with dark, half-angry eyes. The Master just smiled wider at him.

"Oh, don't look so depressed!" he said. "I've got wonderful news for your little pet!"

A jolt went up the Doctor's spine, but Spencer reacted before he could.

"What news?" Spencer's voice was still raw from his nightmare, but he kept it steady and he met the Master's stare with a surprising amount of force.

The Master flashed his teeth. "I believe we're very close to locating your team! Isn't that just fantastic? I know how you've missed them all so much. I'm thinking we should have a little reunion! We can even make it special and broadcast it live so everyone else can share in the fun! Won't that be lovely!?"

~/.\~

"I don't like the idea of just sitting around waiting," Gibbs protested. His jaw was tight and his eyes were blazing as he stared Hotch down.

"We aren't just waiting around," Hotch said. "We're working to get rid of the Toclafane. We're building weapons. There are more and more people joining our efforts every day, across the globe. We're fighting this in every way we can."

"It's not enough!"

"Look," Rufus leaned forward, fixing Gibbs with a hard stare. "we are doing everything that we possibly can. Now, I'm all for bloody fights and action, but that's just not gonna happen with this. We can't fight this fight that way. We're way over our heads."

Gibbs stood and started pacing. He had been agitated ever since Jenny Sheppard's death, and while everyone understood what he was feeling they were starting to really worry about him. He was angry and desperate for blood.

"We've got to do more,"

"We'll do more when we have better weapons, bigger numbers, and when we know the Master is vulnerable. He is the exact opposite of vulnerable right now, Gibbs. He's getting more powerful."

"Which is exactly why we need to move now!"

"Boss," Tony said quietly. "I think they're right. We should lay low. Keep doing what we're doing. The Doctor's plan will work."

Gibbs gave him a hateful look, shaking his head. "You don't know that! We have to do something!"

"He's right, Boss," McGee jumped in. "I think we should keep doing what we're doing. Stick with the Doctor's plan. Ducky trusts him. Jack trusts him."

Gibbs looked like he wanted to argue, but Tobias spoke first. "Jethro," he said, his tone carefully gentle. "They're right. We're doing a lot of good. We're making the Master sweat a little and giving him something to distract him from Martha. That's what we can do."

Gibbs's jaw was tight and he shook his head, turning and leaving. Tony watched him go and after a moment hurried after him, hoping he could talk some reason into his boss before he decided to do something reckless that he would regret.

~/.\~

Castiel suddenly found himself jerked from his post watching over the Winchesters and standing in a large office with dozens of over-large windows that filtered in too-bright light. Taking up most of the space in the room was a desk made of dark wood and a plush leather chair sitting behind it.

Occupying the chair was an angel Castiel had only seen a few times. Only spoken to once. He instantly straightened to his full height and bowed his head slightly in greeting.

"Michael,"

Michael smiled—if it could be called a smile—and stood carefully from his seat behind the desk. "Castiel," he said. "I apologize for taking you away from your post, but I'm afraid there is an urgent matter I must speak with you about."

Castiel followed Michael's movements as he stepped around to the front of the desk. "An urgent matter?"

"Zachariah tells me that you and members of your garrison have been taking… excursions below."

Castiel fought not to show his apprehension.

"You are aware that we are forbidden to make journeys to Earth," Michael said. "No matter the justifications. Our Father has given us very explicit orders." He crossed his arms over his chest and he stared Castiel down.

"So why am I hearing these whispers of you and others taking trips down there, fighting alongside of humans? Killing those metal monsters?"

Castiel hesitated. "The humans are in danger. They need our help. Our Father—"

"Gave us explicit orders not to travel to Earth," Michael cut him off. His arms dropped back down his side and Castiel watched them nervously.

"I don't want to hear about any more these little trips, Castiel," Michael said. "People are talking. It's bad for morale. We don't want rebels and renegades amongst our army. You remember what happened with Lucifer? With Gadreel? We cannot have that happen again."

"Of course," Castiel nodded. "I understand. We will cease our excursions below."

Michael smiled and nodded. "Good. Because if I hear about it again, I will not send any rule-breaks to Naomi. They will be sent directly to the prison. Indefinitely."

~/.\~

"Guys!" Abby's voice rang out through the bunker and she pushed her chair back, waving her arms frantically. "Guys, it's the Doctor! He sent a message!"

It took seconds for everyone to be gathered around the monitors while Garcia and Abby pulled up the message.

"Are we sure it's the Doctor?" Juliet asked, sliding her seat closer to see the monitor.

"Same as the other messages that Sarah Jane was telling us about," Garcia said. "It's in our code. We're deciphering it now."

She and Abby were both looking at the screen intently. It was deathly quiet for several minutes before both of the women suddenly gasped.

"We've got a problem," Garcia said.

"Big problem," Abby agreed.

"What? What is it? Spit it out!" Dean snapped, leaning forward over Charlie and Grace Holloway's heads.

"The Master is closing in," Garcia said.

"He told them this morning that he's getting close." Abby added, her voice shaking slightly.

It was silent again, everyone seeming to hold their breath at the same time. Collectively, they all seemed to exhale at once.

"We've got to move," Lisbon said. "We've got to move fast."

~/.\~

A/N: This chapter was… difficult and easy to write at the same time. Parts of it flowed really well, but other parts really stuck. I hope it's alright.

And again, I'm really sorry for the delay in updating. I'll try to make up for it by updating again next Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to make it this time.

Hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think!