The U.S.S Impala

Castiel hefted his heavy bag over his shoulder, breathing in the salty sea air, and trying not to let the pressure of the mission stop him from moving forward. He was already late, the last to arrive at one of the few naval bases still left to them, and they couldn't get underway without him.

The bases were quiet these days. Without supplies, it was difficult to keep them fully staffed. Cas walked past several rusting, deserted ships drifting around in the water, and was almost relieved when he finally found people at the far end of the base. It reminded him of days past, when these bases were packed and soldiers were hurrying back and forth. They had purpose and life then.

Alfie, his assistant, was waiting for him in front of a sleek, black submarine. This vessel was clearly well cared for, showing no signs of the wear and tear that plagued what was left of the navy.

'Good morning, Alfie,' Cas mumbled when he approached.

'Morning,' Alfie beamed. Cas had no idea how the young man remained so optimistic these days, but he appreciated it all the same. They could all do with some optimism.

'Is everything ready?'

'Not yet,' Alfie said, scrolling through his list on his tablet. 'We're still waiting for the incubator. The light microscopes are here, but not the electrons, and they're still loading the submersible.' Alfie sniggered slightly, then blushed when Cas gave him a stern look. 'Sorry,' he muttered. 'Sub on a sub, you know?'

Cas rolled his eyes, but smiled, Alfie's lightheartedness already improving his mood. He looked at the small door in the side of the ship with trepidation. As soon as they went inside, he knew they wouldn't see the sky for a long time. 'I'll wait with you,' he said.

Alfie smiled again. 'Cool.'

'Everyone else is inside, though?'

Alfie nodded. 'Dr Tran and Crowley-'

'Dr MacLeod,' Cas corrected. 'Don't inflate his ego.'

'Right. Dr Tran and Dr MacLeod are setting up their stations already.' Alfie flicked to another list and scrolled through that as well. 'Dr Milton arrived not long ago, so she's probably still unpacking.'

Cas nodded and put his bag down on the floor and breathed in the fresh air. He wasn't looking forward to having to breathe oppressive, recycled air. He could already feel the stale taste coating his tongue.

All too soon, the last of the equipment arrived, and Cas took his last steps on solid ground. He glanced over his shoulder and glimpsed a sliver of blue sky before the door was sealed shut. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and when he did, he found himself standing before a tall man with long hair, wearing his blue navy uniform and smiling patiently at Cas and Alfie.

'Welcome to the Impala,' he said. 'I'd say that I hope your stay is comfortable, but we all know it won't be, so let's just cut to the chase.' He turned on his heel and gestured for them to follow him. 'My name's Winchester, we'll be at the Challenger zone in a couple of days, you guys can get what you need, then we'll cross over to what's left of the Barrier Reef and see what you can recover there.'

'Winchester,' said Cas. 'Commander?'

'Oh, no, Lieutenant. Sam.'

'Right. Nice to meet you, Lieutenant.'

'Likewise. The lab is this way.'

'Do Lieutenants always give the tour to guests?' Alfie asked nervously.

'No,' said Sam, 'but this isn't exactly a normal situation.'

The submarine itself seemed to hum. Cas resisted touching the walls to see if he could feel it vibrating, and followed Sam to the lab that had been set up in the depths of the ship. It was almost as sophisticated as the lab he was used to, and Cas examined it closely.

'Have the biohazard doors been put in?' Cas asked, already adjusting some of the microscopes that had been dumped on the clean white surfaces.

'Yep, button's here,' Sam said, patting the wall beside the door.

Cas nodded. 'Good.'

'I'll let you get on with it,' Sam said. 'The mess is upstairs, and we made some space for you guys to sleep down the hall that way.'

'Thank you, Lieutenant,' said Cas.

Sam disappeared and Cas set about arranging their materials and equipment.

The first thing he did was closely catalogue the live samples of the Croatoan virus and secure them in the refrigerated plexiglass closet that had been meticulously put together, biohazard warnings plastered all over it. They were all there, sitting innocently in their phials. Cas sighed, staring at them.

It had started slowly at first. Only a few failed vegetable crops deep in the midwest. Who would have noticed? Not even the farmers thought it was unusual. There were always dud crops. It wasn't until the virus killed every wheatfield in Kansas that it was finally noticed, but by then it was too late. It had already infected most plants in the United States, and spread across the globe. Cas sighed again as he closed the door on the samples. If they'd noticed - acted quicker - maybe they would have been able to salvage more than the few basic crops they'd clawed back, and they wouldn't be desperately scrabbling along the seafloor for a cure.

'Ah, you're here at last.'

Cas jumped and turned to Crowley, who was lounging against the doorframe with a cup and spoon in his hand.

'Is that - is that ice cream?' Alfie asked incredulously, peering into the cup.

'Yes it is,' Crowley said smugly. 'They have a machine here, did you know? Here, this one's for you, my young friend.' He gave the cup to Alfie, who took it with wide eyes.

'Don't waste food,' Cas chastised.

'Please, I would hardly call it food. It's mostly synthetic.'

'You used the synthesiser to make ice cream?' Cas scolded.

'I won't do it again,' Crowley said, rolling his eyes. Crowley then stepped over to Cas, and he too stared at the samples in their case. 'Do you think we'll find anything?' he said quietly.

'We must,' Cas said solemnly.

Just then Anna and Kevin walked in. 'Oh good, I thought you'd never get here,' said Anna, tying back her long red hair.

Cas surveyed them all sadly. They were all pale, drawn, and had the glint of desperation in their eyes that he found in almost everyone these days.

'All right, everyone,' he said to them, 'I know things are bleak, but we're still alive. As long as we have that, we can still find something. We can still fix this.'

'Inspiring,' Crowley said sarcastically, and they all managed a smile.

'Let's get to work,' Cas said.

Anna nodded, and dragged a crate of plants out from under one of the tables. 'Alfie, can you help me take some samples from these?' she asked.

'He's my assistant, you know,' Cas said in amusement.

'How come you're the only one that gets an assistant?' Kevin complained.

Cas hesitated, glancing at Alfie.

'Because he's the smartest, obviously,' Alfie said brightly. 'He needs someone else to help carry all that extra brain power.'

Anna snorted. 'Sure, Alfie, whatever you say. He doesn't seem to be using that extra brain right now though, so, samples?'

'Sure,' Alfie grinned, snapping on some gloves and hefting the plants onto the counter.

'Thank you,' Cas mouthed at Alfie, when he caught his eye.

Alfie just waved him off and continued with his task.

Cas himself set about making sure all the equipment was calibrated properly. There was something calming about making sure each microscope was set up to the correct settings. It wasn't until he heard someone clearing their throat behind him that he finally looked up to see Sam, the Lieutenant, and another man with him.

He was tall, light hair cropped and spiked, and he wore his navy jacket tied around his waist. Stubble shadowed his sharp jawline, and his gaze was cold.

'Commander Winchester,' Sam said, belatedly introducing him.

The others didn't quite know how to react. Alfie went right up to him and offered a handshake, but the commander ignored him with an irritated sigh.

'All right, which one of you is in charge of the geek squad?' he said.

Cas stood up straight, squaring his shoulders. 'I am,' he said.

The commander snorted. 'Why, 'cause you're the tallest?' he laughed.

'No, because I have previous military experience,' said Cas, satisfied at wiping the smile right off the commander's face. 'Flight Commander, Major Novak reporting for duty, sir.'

The commander narrowed his eyes. 'Novak, huh?'

'That's right.'

'I don't like you, Novak,' he said, folding his arms. 'What about the rest of you?' He glared around at them. 'What do you do?'

'Dean-' Sam began.

'Commander,' he corrected. 'I want to know exactly why they're taking up valuable space on my ship.'

They all stood in an uncomfortable silence, until Anna stepped forward. 'Dr Anna Milton,' she said. 'Botany. That's the study of plants, in case you didn't know.'

'Kevin Tran, genetics.'

'Crowley-

'Dr MacLeod,' Cas interrupted.

'I'm a virologist,' Crowley continued. 'Probably the most important person here, in fact.'

'Sure you are,' the commander said scathingly. 'What about you, kid?'

'Oh, I'm nobody, I'm just Castiel's assistant,' said Alfie.

'Castiel?' Dean sniggered. 'What kind of a name is that and why do you need an assistant?'

'I'm a microbiologist,' Cas said shortly. 'It's a broader study and needs more than one set of hands, especially with the samples we'll be collecting.'

'I also know how to drive the submersible,' Alfie said proudly.

'Wow,' said Dean. He turned his attention back to Cas, stepping closer to him and jabbing a finger into his chest. 'You and your nerds better not waste my time, but if you do, it's your ass I'm coming for, got it?' He didn't wait for an answer and stamped out of the room.

'I - I'm so sorry about - ' Sam didn't finish and chased after Dean instead. 'Dean, wait!' he called.

'Commander!' Dean's voice echoed down the call.

'Why do I have to call you Commander and you don't have to call me Lieutenant?'

'Shut up, Sam!'

Cas just tutted.

'Are you okay?' Anna asked.

'Of course,' Cas smiled. 'I've dealt with far worse than him.'

'He seemed mad,' Alfie frowned.

'Don't worry about it. He's probably just as stressed as we are,' Cas said reassuringly.

'Hey, how come you never told us your rank?' Kevin asked, fiddling with some empty phials.

Cas shrugged. 'I don't like to talk about it.'

'Unless it's to make a point or win an argument,'Anna smirked.

Cas rolled his eyes. 'How's the incubator coming?' he asked Crowley.

'Maintaining temperature well so far,' Crowley said, squinting at the gauges. 'I'd give it a couple of hours before trying any cultures in it though.'

Cas nodded.

Just then, a small woman carrying a tablet wandered into the room. Her red hair was cut short and she didn't appear to notice any of them.

'Um… Excuse me?' Alfie said politely. 'Can we help you?'

'Yeah…' she said slowly, not looking up from her tablet. 'I'm getting a weird electrical signature and it looks like… it's coming from this room…' She finally looked up and saw them all staring at her. 'Oh, I'm Charlie,' she smiled, shaking Alfie's hand. 'Tech division… Anyway, do any of you have any unusual electrical stuff?'

Anna frowned. 'I don't think so. The incubator's been acting up recently, but it shouldn't be throwing off anything strange.'

'Will it affect the ship?' Cas asked anxiously.

Charlie continued scanning around the room with a frown. She moved closer to Cas, who stepped away nervously. 'No,' she said eventually. 'Doesn't seem dangerous and it's not interacting with anything else, so… I guess it's fine. Nice to meet you guys.' She disappeared again, leaving them in confused silence.

'We should make sure everything is secure before we do anything else,' said Cas. 'We'll be departing soon, I should think.'

As if on cue, the commander's voice crackled over the comms system.

'Command to all units, prepare for departure at fifteen hundred hours. Repeat, prepare for departure at fifteen hundred hours. Thirty minutes to your posts.'

Cas hurried to fix the microscopes and heavy equipment to the counters, and sat down heavily on a chair when he was done, ready to depart.

'Command to all units,' came the announcement, this time in Sam's voice. 'Departure preparation is complete. We are clear to get underway.'

The submarine slid smoothly forwards, cruising slowly away from the naval base and out into open water. Cas swayed in his seat with the movement of the ship, and he could feel himself sweating.

'Whoa, you look really pale,' Kevin said. 'Are you okay?'

'He's fine, he gets seasick,' said Anna.

'You get seasick and you volunteered to come on a submarine?' said Alfie. 'What are you, nuts?'

'More importantly, you were in the air force, how do you get motion sickness?' Crowley laughed.

'It's a very different sensation,' Cas said weakly, valiantly forcing down his nausea. 'It'll be fine when we descend further. The water will be calmer.'

'If you say so,' Anna said in amusement.

For the time being, though, Cas sat in his seat with his cheek resting on the cool counter and his eyes closed. The others were quiet during the descent, doing their best not to disturb Cas, and talked in murmurs. Other than their low voices, the only other thing Cas could hear was the humming of the ship itself, which he found strangely comforting.

Soon enough, he felt the ship slowing, and his nausea began to ease.

'Hey,' Alfie said kindly when he finally lifted his head. 'Here, I got you some water.'

'Thank you,' Cas mumbled. He took a long drink, then got to his feet. 'I'm going to walk around for a while, will you be all right here?'

'I'm sure Anna will find plenty for me to do,' Alfie grinned.

'You got that right,' Anna said from under the counter, where she was arranging her crates.

Cas nodded and exited the lab, leaning against the wall outside for a moment before wandering away down the hall.

Immediately, he noticed that the Impala was much larger than an ordinary submarine. It had an upstairs for starters, and more than one room for the crew to sleep in. Not many subs had space for a full lab either. But the biggest surprise Cas had was walking into the command centre. He'd seen the tiny rooms covered in switches and only big enough for two or three people, but the one on the Impala was huge.

There were several consoles, and looked as though it could fit almost every officer inside. But the most impressive part were the projections on the front walls. There were no windows on a submarine, but it didn't need them. There must have been cameras mounted on the exterior, that were feeding directly into the projections on the wall. They were high definition, and Cas could see everything. The ocean was one of the few places you could still find life. The fish thrived now that there was no one to fish them, and Cas watched, mouth open, as they passed a swirling school of fish. Their scales flashed in the light of the cameras, bright, shining, alive.

'What are you doing?'

The commander's gruff voice snapped Cas out of his reverie, but he couldn't stop staring at the fish.

'I - uh - was just… exploring.'

'You don't explore on my ship,' he growled. 'Get out of my command room.'

Cas prickled. He tried to push it away, but Dean noticed it anyway.

'You got a problem?' he demanded.

'You're not my commanding officer,' Cas said before he could stop himself. 'I'm not your subordinate. Don't treat me like I am.'

Dean scowled. 'While you're on my ship, I am. Don't think I won't throw you off in the middle of the ocean.'

Cas wanted to argue, but making the commander furious with him on day one didn't seem to be the smartest move, so he just shook his head and walked back towards the door. Before he reached it, however, he was distracted by a small, unassuming console, tucked into a corner. There was no reason anyone should stop to look at it, except that some of the buttons were painted mustard yellow and plastic security covers had been set over them. He squinted at it, then gasped as he recognised it, and he spun around to face the commander.

'You have a Stasis switch on this ship?' he hissed incredulously. 'Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? No one even knows what that would do to a nuclear reactor.'

'I don't remember asking for your opinion, Major Novak,' Dean said harshly. 'Get back to your lab before I have you escorted.'

'But-'

'It's perfectly safe with someone qualified in nuclear physics, which the commander is,' Sam interrupted, coming into the room and grabbing Cas by the shoulders. 'Come on, Major, let's go.'

Sam dragged him out into the hallway. 'You don't look so good,' he said.

'I'm fine,' Cas snapped. 'How can that be here-?'

'I'll show you to your room,' Sam interrupted again, pushing Cas down the hallway, past the lab, and to a room that had a bunk bed for him and Alfie, and one single chest of drawers for them to share.

'Sam-'

'You need to calm down,' Sam said firmly. 'There's no room on this ship for fighting with each other, literally, okay? We're all stressed, and we're all worried, and the last thing we need is for our supposed "best hope" to fight with the commander.'

Cas blinked rapidly. '"Best hope"?' he said. 'Is that what you all think of us?'

Sam nodded. 'Yeah, so snap out of it, and get some sleep, 'cause you and your friends might just be it.'

Cas sighed and rubbed his face. 'Tell the commander that I'm sorry.'

Sam snorted. 'Don't bother, he's probably already forgotten about it. He's hot-headed in the moment, but he doesn't hold a grudge.'

'That's good to know.'

Sam smiled. 'Seriously, though, you look like crap. Get some sleep, I'll make sure no one disturbs you.'

'Thank you, Lieutenant, I appreciate it.'

Sam turned around.

'Would you let the others know where I am?'

'Of course.'

Sam left, and Cas chose the bottom bunk, knowing that Alfie would want the top one. Now that he was sitting on a bed, his limbs felt leadened, and he knew that he'd gone too long without rest. His body couldn't handle it anymore. He had to be more careful. He rested his head on the thin pillow he'd been given. It was uncomfortable, but then nothing was comfortable anymore. Thankfully, the humming of the ship quickly put him to sleep.

Hello everyone, I'm sure you're wondering where I've been. I was recently made a manager at my job and instead of starting me off slowly, they immediately dumped fourteen new hires on me that I had to train, so it's been a bit chaotic and scary, so I haven't had much focus time.

Anyway, please accept this new story and updates to all my works in progress - SPL - Order of the Phoenix, Lionheart and Little Things as an apology and an optimistic view that updates will be more frequent now that things have settled a bit, but maybe not as frequent as before.

Thanks for all your support if you're still sticking around :)