Rebel Rebel
They all look in silence at the gaping hole among the four connected Amulets. They each have a shining symbol, resembling the symbols of the Gospels.
"Maybe its supposed to look like that?" Sam suggests carefully, though not fully convinced himself.
"Really? When is the last time we've seen a four-pointed star with a major gap?" Dean asks sceptically.
"Actually, four-pointed stars frequently appear in the Christian texts. It symbolises everything from truth, hope and spirit to protection, victory, and God, and even mystery or mystic forces. It also symbolises travel, as the four points can be compared to the four cardinal directions, similar to a compass," Castiel rattles off.
Dean gapes at him for a moment before gently patting Cas's knee. "Honey, love that big angel brain of yours, but the question was rhetorical."
Castiel squints at Dean, deciphering if he is joking or not. He isn't. "Oh."
"But Cas has a point," Sam insists, "Four-pointed stars are not uncommon. Maybe this is right."
"Like this? With a gap? If you try to use this star as a compass, you're not going to end up where you wanted to," Dean counters.
Castiel puts his hand over the collected Amulets. They are about the size of a palm when put together. He closes his eyes and focuses on the power within. "They carry extreme power. Chuck truly has poured divine energy from all the worlds he destroyed into them."
"Is it enough to destroy the Empty?" Dean asks.
Castiel pulls his hand back and shakes his head. "I don't think so."
"Alright, let's say a piece is missing," Sam gives in to his gut feeling. "Pentagrams are symbols of great good or great evil, so it would make sense that Chuck used that symbol to contain all this energy. But what's the fifth piece? Is there a secret Gospel we don't know about?"
"And where is its damn Amulet?" Dean grumbles.
For a moment, they just sit in silence, looking at the amputated star that softly glows blue in the poorly lit kitchen.
Then Sam perks up. "One Amulet in Hell, one in the Veil, one in Heaven and one in Purgatory. Which dimension is missing?"
Castiel quickly answers: "Earth."
"But where on Earth? And which Gospel is it?" Dean spreads his hands in frustration.
Sam thinks for a second and then huffs a humourless laugh. Dean raises an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I'm so happy you're finding our misery entertaining, Sammy," he says, heavy with sarcasm.
Sam looks up at his brother, shaking his head. "Think about it, Dean. We didn't want to follow Chuck's story line, so what is the very last thing he could do, just to make sure his story mattered?"
Dean frowns for a moment, then rolls his eyes as he realises what Sam is referring to. "It's our Gospel. His damn books were supposed to be the Winchester Gospel." He slams his hands down on the table before abruptly standing up. "Son of a bitch!"
Sam shushes his brother, and for a heart stopping moment they listen for any sounds from upstairs, but the house remains quiet.
"Sorry," Dean whispers, running his hands through his hair and down his face. "So, we need to find another Amulet here on Earth?"
"As much as I hate to say it, it makes sense. The Empty cannot enter Earth without being summoned, but it can attack the other dimensions if they are weakened. It is the perfect way to conceal the weapon." Castiel places his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.
Sam lets out a long, tired sigh. "It could be anywhere."
Dean looks at Sam, seeing the dark circles under his eyes. Sam might still be in the hunting life, but he has clearly used less time in field the last couple of years than he did together with Dean. Even if Baby Dean has kept his dad awake for plenty of nights, it's different from being kept awake by hunting, running on an unhealthy mix of adrenaline and caffeine. "How about we call it a night and catch some z's? Maybe we can figure it out tomorrow when our brains aren't fried?"
-.-.-.-.-
Dean is wrong.
They waste days looking for an answer. They try to locate Chuck, but he's hidden himself, even from angel radar. They look into all the old texts regarding the Gospels, but nothing indicates anything useful. Their Gospel was not anticipated back when the other texts were written. They even try to read Chuck's damn awful books, but it's their lives. They already know everything that happened. Reading it through Chuck's dramatic lenses doesn't make it any better.
Castiel splits his time between Heaven and Earth. He helps Jack keep the Empty at bay. He asks all the legacy angels if they can think of where Chuck might have hidden something valuable on Earth, but no one knows. This was one of Chuck's last strategies, and none of them were involved. And no one really knew their father after he left them, so how would they know his whims and moods?
When Sam and Dean ask about a status on the fight in Heaven, Castiel carefully urges them to find the missing Amulet soon.
They recruit Thomas and Morgan to help them, finally telling them everything that's going on. They do everything to help, but even they can't find a specific answer. There are too many biblical reference points or places of biblical importance that could be the right hiding place. They search some of the most significant ones, but without any results.
The best thing to come out of their collaboration so far is when Morgan looks between Dean and Castiel and whispers to Dean: "I forgive you. He's cute."
-.-.-.-.-
It's difficult to be quiet, but it's even harder for them to keep their hands to themselves. And honestly, Dean is a little thrilled to do it in his brother's guest room. It's both the risk of getting caught and the knowledge that Sam will never know – Not unless Dean needs to use the fact as ammunition in a brotherly quarrel someday. It's almost like being a teenager again, sneaking hook-ups into their motel room without the other one finding out.
Once done, Dean all but splashes out as a starfish on the bed, enjoying the small aftershocks and trying to get cool air on as much of his heated skin as possible. Castiel curls up against him, as always. He smiles but looks thoughtful.
"Anything wrong?" Dean cards his fingers through Cas's messy, black hair, loving the slightly sweaty dampness of it, thinking of it as prove of the amazing workout they just got.
Castiel starts drawing patterns on Dean's chest with one finger. "I just feel a little guilty about doing this while Heaven is under attack. It doesn't seem fair that I get to have this. Not now."
"Hey…" Dean lifts Cas's chin a bit to make Cas look up at him. "You've done all you can do. You said that yourself. We need you down here to help us find the last Amulet."
Castiel rolls his eyes. "We were not exactly looking for the Amulet just now."
Dean smiles playfully. "I don't know about you, but I looked for the Amulet here. And here. And here."
Every 'here' is followed by a kiss on Castiel's face or shoulders. Castiel can't help but to giggle at the cute gesture, and soon he has to stop Dean with a kiss to the lips, or he fears Dean will go on all night. "You know what I mean."
Dean lays back again with a sigh. "Yeah, I know. But we've been working on this thing for days now. I think we needed this. I know I needed it. Needed you."
Castiel smiles and puts his head down on Dean's chest to look up at Dean. He still feels bad for feeling so good right now, but he can't help it. These small intimate moments with Dean make every mistake he's ever made worth it. He would follow any road that would lead to this.
Dean is trying to get used to Cas staring at him like that, but it still makes him a little uncomfortable. He's not sure if he deserves the immense love that he sees in the blue depths of Cas's eyes. So he looks away, looks around at this room that almost feels like his by now. It's not his own small house up in Heaven, but with Cas here, it feels close enough to home.
Home.
Dean instantly tenses, making Castiel jerk his head back from Dean's chest. "Dean? What's wrong?"
"He wouldn't," Dean says, staring at the unmarked ceiling.
"What?" Castiel asks again.
Dean sits up, making Castiel move to the other side of the bed. Dean slowly turns toward him. "Chuck is so full of himself and his stupid books and his stupid story. We know he loves to piss us off. We're looking for the Winchester Amulet. You don't think he would have put it where it all started, do you?"
-.-.-.-.-
Dean fears he might be on to something when he tells Sam his theory and Sam mirrors his own reaction: "No, he wouldn't."
Which basically means that yes, Chuck would sink so low just to mess with them. It's starting to feel as if Chuck counted on them finding the Amulets all along. Maybe he expected Sam and Dean to play ball in the end, and he could use them as pawns in his game against the Empty. Or maybe he just desperately wanted his story to matter and therefore spun the last Amulet around it.
Chuck might not be God anymore, but they still have to play by his rules to save everyone they love.
Dean hates it. Not even the drive in Baby from Lebanon to Lawrence can calm his anger. It only helps him do the 3 hour and 40-minute trip in just under 3 hours instead.
-.-.-.-.-
They stand outside the old house, which was supposed to have been their childhood home, leaning against what became their four-wheeled home instead.
The house looks like the last time they were here. It's been such a long time that Dean for a moment had wondered if the house would even still be there, but maybe some of Chuck's mojo keeps it standing no matter what. Even that damn tree that Sam saw in his visions all those years still stands tall.
The place has new owners, the Baker family. There are kid's toys in the garden and a car made for space and comfort instead of speed and beauty. It's a cloudy day, late morning, so the family is probably inside.
"How should we do this?" Sam asks.
Dean huffs: "Walk up there and be like 'Hi, we used to live here, mind if we check out the house'? Again?"
Sam rolls his eyes. "It worked fine last time. But I doubt they will let us check every nook of the house with that excuse."
"So we wait," Dean concludes, "until they're out of the house."
-.-.-.-.-
Luckily, they don't have to wait long. The sky clears, and soon the little family of five leaves the house, heading in the direction of the park.
"Should give us at least an hour," Sam says, and with a quick look up and down the street, checking for any witnesses, they get out of the car and quickly move around to the back of the house to be hidden from plain view.
They know just where to find the perfect basement window to break in through. The new family has cleared and organised the basement neatly; boxes of Christmas decorations, things the kids have created and extra duvets and pillows. Everything packed in boxes, marked, and stacked in categories.
"Maybe you should hire the Bakers to help with the archives," Dean suggests to Sam.
Sam just huffs and moves to the stairs that will lead them upstairs. The next floor is not as neat as the basement; clearly the place is lived in and loved.
Dean feels a pang. He looks at Cas, maybe looking for a little bit of support, but he is instead caught by the curious way Cas seems to study the place. "What?"
Castiel turns to look at Dean with a hint of sadness. "This is where you grew up. Or, should have grown up."
Dean just nods, but he is moved by how that also seems to matter to Cas. Maybe because Cas knows just how much the concepts of home and family matter to Dean.
"Where should we start looking?" Sam interrupts.
"At the beginning," Dean sighs and nods his head towards the stairs up to Sam's nursery.
Today, the room is obviously a little girl's room. Everything is very purple and on one wall, there's a giant, glittery rainbow with a pony riding on it.
"Aw, look, Sam. Nothing's changed," Dean coos.
"Shut up," Sam answers automatically, having expected that joke the moment they stepped in the room.
Dean picks up a pony teddy bear from the bed, just to do something with his hands. It's surprisingly soft. "There must be some kind of test, just like with all the other Amulets."
Sam checks the closet. This is where the spirit of their mom was hiding last time they were here, maybe it means something. But there's nothing but child sized, purple, pony-decorated clothes. "Chuck has tested our loyalty, our purity, our devotion, and our character. What else can he possibly think of?"
"What can't he think of?" Dean mumbles.
"Where exactly was your crib situated?" Castiel interrupts the frustrated banter between the brothers.
Sam turns around to point it out, but he doesn't remember, only having seen it in short visions. He looks up at Dean, who is already indicating an area of the floor.
Castiel walks to the indicated area and turns on the spot. He then frowns and rocks back and forth on his feet, making the floor squeak. "What kind of flooring is underneath here?"
Both Sam and Dean listen for a second before exclaiming: "Wood!"
Dean looks around, but there's only one quick way to do this. He takes out a pocketknife and starts cutting the carpet in the shape of where Sam's crib once was.
"Dean…" Sam admonishes half-heatedly. He feels bad for the family, that they will come home to a ruined carpet, but he knows that the alternative will be to pull the entire carpet off, which will take too much time and be even worse.
Dean removes the carpet piece.
They all let go of the breath they didn't know they had been holding. There's nothing. No symbols, no shining blue, nothing.
"Damnit. What else?" Dean runs his hands through his hair.
Sam looks up. "Could it be the ceiling? I mean, she…"
"Burned to death up there," Dean finishes when Sam hesitates. His voice is completely plain, which only indicates how much he has to restrain himself as he says the words.
Castiel feels sad that his idea didn't pan out, and now the Baker family has a ruined carpet. Out of habit, he looks down at his feet, scuffing at the leftovers of whatever glue the carpet had been attached to the old wooden floor with.
And that's when he sees it.
A knot in the wood shaped like the other Amulets.
Without thinking more of it, Castiel bends down to try to pry the knot out. "Look at th-"
There's a flash of light.
-.-.-.-.-
The room instantly becomes dark. Gone is the purple and ponies, the carpet is undamaged, and there's a crib standing where Dean cut a hole just moments ago.
"What the Hell?" Dean turns around. His blood is running cold. There are certain details that he had forgotten with time, but he has seen this place in plenty of nightmares. "No, that's… It can't be."
"Is this…?" Sam gapes. He walks over to the crib, seeing himself as a baby.
Dean walks up next to him. God, he doesn't remember Sam being so small. But then again, Dean was a lot smaller back then too.
They are too occupied to notice that the slow lullaby playing from a music box, and the clock on the wall, stop.
"Watch out!" Castiel's voice cuts through their reminiscence. Following where Castiel is looking, they turn to look behind them.
Yellow Eyes has materialised behind them. He might be all dressed in black and mostly hidden under the hood, but the sickly yellow colour of his eyes still shines brightly enough to cut through the shadows.
"Oh hell, no!" Dean shouts, but Yellow Eyes doesn't seem to hear him.
The demon just slides up to the crib. Sam steps back in surprise. "I don't think he can see or hear us."
"So what? Do we have to relive this again?" Dean barks.
Yellow Eyes brings out a knife, ready to let his blood drip into the small baby beneath them.
"NO!" Dean jumps forward to push the demon away, even if all reason tells him that it won't work.
But it does.
The demon tumbles to the floor, looking around in surprise. Baby Sam wakes up and starts crying due to the turmoil.
"We can touch him!" Dean states the obvious with surprise.
They don't get to say anything else or figure out what to do with their new knowledge before hurried steps sound from the hallway, and Mary's voice cuts the silence. "John?"
Mary turns the corner of the door, her eyes first searching for Sam but quickly falling on the demon on the floor.
Yellow Eyes reacts immediately, pinning Mary to the wall and slowly moving her up towards the ceiling.
"Stop! Don't!" Dean jumps forward again, grabbing Yellow Eyes. Sam quickly joins him and as if by reflex, he starts citing the exorcism.
Mary falls to the floor as the demon writhes, black smoke puffing from his lips as he screams.
As Sam cites the last words, the black smoke bursts from the mouth of the poor vessel.
The last thing they hear is heavy steps running up the stairs, and John's desperate cry. "Mary?!"
-.-.-.-.-
Another flash of light, and they are back where they started. The room is dark, the crib is untouched.
"What happened?" Dean asks, looking around. One minute he is wrestling Yellow Eyes on the floor, the next he's standing next to the crib. He checks on the baby, but Baby Sam is sleeping soundly again.
"I don't know. Did we… win?" Sam asks uncertainly.
"Wouldn't we be back if we had won?" Castiel asks.
This time, they notice when the lullaby and clock stop, leaving the room completely silent.
"Are we-" Before Sam can finish his sentence, Yellow Eyes appears again.
Again, Sam and Dean jump him, this time quicker, and they exorcize him without waking up anyone in the house.
-.-.-.-.-
Another flash of light, and they are back where they started. The room is dark, the crib is untouched.
"Are we groundhog day-ing this crap?" Dean kicks the floor.
Sam runs his hands through his hair. "It's Mystery Spot all over again."
Yellow Eyes appears.
Dean is about to jump him again, but Sam grabs his arm. "We already tried that. We need to think of something else."
Dean reluctantly pulls back, though he sneers when the demon pulls out his knife. "Then what? We can't just let this happen."
"I don't know… Maybe we should get Baby Sam out of here? Or get everyone out of here?" Sam suggests.
"Right. Yeah, let's do that. You exorcize this bitch and then get your little self out of here. Cas, go get our mom. I'll get dad." Dean barks, already walking towards the door.
"How?" Castiel asks.
Dean turns around. "We can touch them, so pull her out if you have to. Just watch out for her right hook." He turns again and quickly stomps down the stairs. He hears Castiel follow.
As they pass the master bedroom, Dean hears Mary stirring, awakened by their footsteps. "John?"
Castiel turns into the bedroom, and soon after, Dean can hear screams behind him. He can't imagine what must be going though Mary's head, being a former hunter suddenly pulled from her bed by an invisible force. It's awful, but necessary.
As he hurries downstairs, he hears John stirring. They meet halfway, but John can't see Dean, so he just grabs onto his young father and starts pushing him towards the door. John protests but is also clearly frightened by the invisible force. It occurs to Dean how innocent his dad was at this point in his life.
With the upper hand of being invisible, Dean manages to push and shove his dad outside the house. He can hear Cas and Sam behind them, Baby Sam crying in his older self's arms.
Dean looks back, and sees Castiel carry a kicking, biting, hitting Mary. The moment they cross the threshold…
-.-.-.-.-
Another flash of light, and they are back where they started. The room is dark, the crib is untouched.
"Oh, come on!" Dean shouts. "What's going on?"
Sam taps his foot in frustration. "You don't… You don't think it's Gabriel? I mean, he's done this before."
"Gabriel might be many things, a Trickster being one of them, but he would not assist Chuck in an endeavour like this," Castiel defends his brother. "Not to mention, he is dead. For good."
"You can never be sure with that guy." Dean crosses his arms. "But I don't think he would help Chuck either."
The lullaby and the clock stop.
"What else can we do?" Sam asks as the demon slowly approaches his younger self.
"Maybe we need more drastic measures. Do you have the knife?" Dean looks at Sam.
Sam's eyes widen as he catches on. He digs into his inner pocket and pulls out the demon killing knife.
Before Yellow Eyes can let his blood drip into the innocent child's mouth, Sam jabs the knife through his heart. Years of anger towards the demon adds to the power of the kill as he twists the blade.
-.-.-.-.-
Another flash of light, and they are back where they started. The room is dark, the crib is untouched.
"Okay, any other ideas?" Dean all but shouts with frustration.
Sam sighs and leans back against the closet doors. "Dean… I don't think we can do anything."
"What? Are you giving up already?" Dean barks at his brother. "You said I died a hundred times in the Mystery Spot, we at least have ninety-five more tries to go."
"No, Dean. What I means is, I don't think we are supposed to do anything," Sam states, looking sadly at his brother. "I think Chuck wants us to relive this and accept it."
"Why would you think that?" Dean growls.
But Castiel can see where Sam is going with this. "It's Chuck's story. It's what he would have wanted. He's showing us the common point in our lives that decided our faiths. The night that sent you two down the path of becoming hunters. The night that one day leads to me raising Dean from Hell."
The lullaby and the clock stop, the room is eerily silent.
Yellow Eyes appears.
"So what? Are we just supposed to stand here and watch?" Dean growls, but there's something tight in his voice, emotions fighting to get out.
Sam's eyes are shining. "Yeah… It's what Chuck would have wanted."
Yellow Eyes pulls out his knife.
"Son of a bitch." Dean turns away. He's not sure he can stand it. But somehow, he has to face it. He can't let Sam look at it alone. And in a few moments, he wants to be here for his mom.
They watch as Mary comes by to check on Sam, but mistakes Yellow Eyes for John.
They hear Mary leave, but soon her hurried steps sound louder again, her desperate cries for Sammy.
When she enters the nursery, Yellow Eyes pushes her to the wall, up the wall, until she's hanging from the ceiling.
Sam gives a small, choking sound. Not only is he reliving his mother's death, but Jessica's. And though he has been fortunate to find love again, Jessica will always have that special place as his first love and be the 'what if things had been different?' of his life. He feels his heart breaking again.
But then a hand slips into his. Dean is standing next to him. His eyes are shining as well. On the opposite side of Dean, Castiel takes Dean's other hand.
Standing there, side by side, they watch John running into the nursery. He approaches Sam quietly, smiling so happy and lovingly down at his youngest son. But something catches his attention in the crib. Blood dripping from the ceiling.
John looks up, and both brothers flinch at their father's desperate screams.
The ceiling bursts into flames and John desperately grabs the crying baby. He runs out of the room, and they hear John yelling: "Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back. Now, Dean, go!"
They watch John run back into the room, desperate to take Mary with him.
But it's far too late.
He has to run outside again, and the room bursts in flames only seconds later.
-.-.-.-.-
Another flash of light, and they are back in daylight, among purple and ponies.
They all let go of each other's hands. Eyes are wiped with faces turned away from the others.
Castiel looks down in his hand. It feels like a poor victory, but the Amulet is there. With a weak voice, he says: "We got it."
"Good. That's good," Dean says, voice thick.
Castiel turns the Amulet over in his hand and frowns. "Wait, something's wrong."
"What?" Sam walks over to look at the Amulet. "It's… not glowing."
"And there's no symbol," Castiel continues, turning the Amulet for Sam to see.
Dean walks over to them. "So, it's not a real Amulet? It's a fake?"
"No, it definitely holds power," Castiel assures them.
Dean is about to argue when they hear noise from downstairs. Floor creaking. Children's voices.
"How long were we gone?" Sam whispers.
"Doesn't matter," Dean says and nods at Cas. "Three to beam up, angel."
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A/N: Want to see an illustration of the Amulet in this chapter (And future chapters)? Find the story at AO3
