Set during 5.04 The End. I'm still messing with the episode and altering a lot from it. And for everyone wondering: yes, this is an alternate/potential future for Dean and Jane.


75: A Croatoan Future: Part 2

"Explain all that."

Castiel sighed, wondering what the point of this was. In fact, that was a good point, why rehash it all over again? "Dean, it was pretty self-explanatory."

"No, not really." Dean's future self had given a very short, condensed version of the Jane thing. Jane had been created by God, especially for him. Her psychic ability, it was due to God giving her something to keep her alive. Oh, and another thing to help her with that: no demon could possess her, always a bonus and actually explained a lot concerning Meg. He had always wondered, in the back of his mind, why Meg hadn't had someone hijack Jane's body back in the day instead of just carting her around. "I get the part about her being… made, for me, for us."

It made a lot of sense. She was perfect for him. She didn't put up with his bullshit, was protective of his –her- family. She knew about the life and had accepted it, even joined up with it in order to be with him. Hell, at the end of the day, no matter what decisions he had made, or what he had done, she still loved him, and he knew he had done some seriously questionable things. He had even gone as far as trying to push her away and she was still here. He had even beaten the hell out of her in an Alastair fueled nightmare, she was still here.

He also got the anger part from his other self, hell, he was a bit peeved, but not technically with Jane. If God had known things were going to get so shitty, then why hadn't he sent a letter, or provided some damn instructions? He loved his wife, but at the end of the day, she was there keeping him sane, not stopping him from ending the world.

"Then what is it you're not getting?" Castiel asked tiredly, feeling his pockets and letting out a small, relieved sigh when he felt what he was looking for. He ignored the look he got when he produced a baggie. "You got over me doing this a long time ago."

"No, other me did, I'm still on the fence with this whole situation. You and Jane included."

"Still thinking about punching me?"

"I'm considering it."


"I'm not going to yell at you."

Dean nodded, wondering if it was safe to enter the cabin. He figured it was a 'yes' when Jane waved him in and pushed open the screen door. He looked around, somehow surprised to find the room was pretty Spartan. Jane wasn't one for decorating up motel rooms or making them feel homey, but she had sure set up shop at Bobby's, so maybe he had been expecting the same here. "Cas said to talk to you about-"

"What did you call it? A real life sex doll?"

"In my defense, that was the other me."

Jane smiled humorlessly, gesturing him towards a little, rickety wooden table. "I was going to have something to eat before our big attack tonight. You might as well join me, I'd imagine you're coming along?"

"Probably." He took one of the two chairs, sitting gingerly and testing his weight because the thing looked like it would break. "So… how'd you find out?"

"Chuck." Jane looked disconcerted at seeing him there, and Dean felt guilt flickering through him at the wariness and pain in her gray eyes. "It was his very last vision, or whatever it was. He was a prophet, but… what he is now, is anyone's guess. If he's still having dreams, he's been keeping them to himself."

"What do you mean?"

"After everything went down, with Sam saying yes in Detroit, angels become scarce. There were some left, still fighting, but the big guys seemed to say screw it and retreated. Dean, the other Dean, tried saying 'yes' but by then, nobody cared. Everything literally went to hell. Demons had free range and they took out Hunters wherever they found them. Lucifer had the Croatoan virus engineered on a mass scale and this… this is the outcome."

Dean digested all that, wondering how much she would tell him if he asked. The problem was, he didn't know if this was a real possibility for his future or something Zachariah had cooked up just to mess with him. No, he was going to throw that one out, inventing all this required creativity, something Zachariah didn't possess. "Is this real?"

"What do you mean?"

"Zachariah." He had to know for sure.

"It's real to me." Jane looked confused as she set down a bowl of something that was definitely out of a can in front of him, followed by a can of some very off-brand of soda that looked like it was one good shake away from exploding. "Zachariah dogged you, the other you, up until… well, when he stopped, but it's Zachariah. Actually, he's an angel, and they've never been given high points for thinking outside their boxes."

"So, this future doesn't have to be?"

"Not if you're really from the past it doesn't." She sat opposite of him, her own bowl of slop before her. "I'd offer you water or something, but we're running low so it's being rationed."

Silence reigned as they both picked over the contents of their bowls, Dean finally shoving his aside, not up to pretending to be interested in it. His Jane was a good cook, who could piece together something delicious from basic ingredients. The corners of his lips turned upwards as he remembered the last thing she had made, that stew for Bobby. He had added some special tidbits to that. "So you were Chuck's last vision?"

"So far as we know." She had relaxed, somewhat, during their sparse meal, but was now tensing up again, obviously readying herself. She kept her eyes on her food. They had stores of canned goods, but a lot of the labels had faded, been peeled off, or were just unreadable so it was a 'guess what's inside' type deal. "He had one of his headaches, drank until he passed out, woke up, and wrote it all out."

"Another Supernatural book?"

"Uh no, he literally wrote it out in some old notebooks, before they were taken for uh, toilet paper."

There went his sudden hope that he would be able to read what the hell had happened here.

"Look, I can tell you what he found out. But if you flip your shit on me, I'll shoot you."

Dean heard a very familiar noise, the safety being taken off a gun, and looked under the table. He cocked an eyebrow and peered over the tabletop at her. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."


"Did you know?" That was all Dean could think to ask or even say after Jane had finished telling him everything she knew. Everything about herself, about current Dean, about the mess the world and they were in. It had been a very long, very one-sided conversation. At first, Jane had been hesitant about telling him some things, simply because of the potential havoc it could bring, but then he had pointed out the obvious. This was a potential future, it wasn't set in stone.

He had learned that she wasn't anything really out of the ordinary, not in terms of being some supernatural creature. The extent of her special abilities ran to her psychic thing and not being able to be possessed. Future Dean had described it as her being a custom made, real life sex doll, made specifically for him. That was partly true. She had been made for him, but to be with him, not an object, and not some perfect little thing who would have dinner ready, rub his feet, and give him blow-jobs and a scotch every night.

In theory, there was technically supposed to be another half for every person. Jane was his. She loved him, but she wouldn't put up with his shit. She supported him, but she questioned him every step of the way, there weren't any free passes. He supposed, it wasn't that she had been "custom made" for him so much as God had set her directly into Dean's path and then equipped her with some extras in order for her to survive the world she was plopped in. She had been tweaked a little, that was all.

"Know what?"

"About the whole God thing? With you?"

"Nope. From the way Chuck explained it, or wrote it down I guess, God knew you were going to need someone. Someone to kick your ass, be there when you needed an extra push, and voila, here I am. I like to think of it as He gave me purpose. Castiel said that everyone has a soul mate, just… most people don't meet their mates. We did. I'm just… a soul mate with some add-ons."

"So you're not really custom made just for me, we just got lucky?"

"God stepped in. I was apparently the one for you and vice versa, He knew the road you were walking and decided to tweak my programming a bit."

Dean considered that, finally nodding. He could live with that. "All right, now explain dickhead's problem?"

"The angels never knew about me, they thought I was just some anomaly that slipped under the radar, same with the demons. Because of that, the fact that I was set in your path so to speak, and all the stress you had been under, you lost your head. I imagine being psychic and unable to be possessed didn't help. It looked like I was planted here to keep tabs on you, to keep you in line. I guess it seemed like I was secretly an infiltrator and you felt betrayed. But really, I think," Jane took a deep breath. "I think a lot of it was Sam."

"Sam?"

"You-"

"Him."

"He spoke only once to Sam after Colorado. Has that happened for you yet?"

"Yes."

"Well, my Dean spoke to Sam once and it didn't end well. That was the last he heard from Sam until news about Detroit reached us."

"What about you?"

"I kept in touch with Sam until the very end."

Suddenly, Dean didn't care anymore about what happened between his dick future self and Jane, but what had happened with Sam. Yeah, he was angry with his little brother, but to write him off completely. It seemed unthinkable to him. "And you couldn't-" He had to stop himself, knowing very well what he was about to do, to say. He was going to demand to know why she hadn't stopped Sam from selling out to the devil. "I messed up."

"Yep." She was back at the table, checking over her weaponry. "You did."

Dean stood over her, watching her and realized she was planning on being in the forthcoming fight. "You really think there's a chance?"

"No, I think we're all going to die."

"Then why are you going?"

"Because… it's what I do. I still support him." Jane refused to meet his gaze, feeling conflicted. This was past Dean, technically the man she loved but… not the man either. "Regardless of what you might think of me, I love him. I never stopped." Even if he had quit loving her.

"Then why are you sleeping with Castiel?"

"Because Dean, even I, God's fool, get lonely. Look," She pushed away from the table and turned to stare at him, her pale face looking shiny under the dim light from the ceiling fixture. "I spent two years waiting on him to forgive me for… for being what I am. Two years of watching him turn into the man you see now. I've watched him go to other women and waited, hoping he'd eventually get over it. Well, he didn't."

"But… Cas?" Dean knew it sounded pathetic, but he was having a hard time getting over the idea of his wife and his angel. "Do you…" God he wished he hadn't had this thought, it was grossing him out. "You don't… his orgies?" He knew he was a pervert and liked to make his jokes, but this was… no, just no.

"Hell no!" The look on her face mirrored his, disgusted. "No! Look, you really don't need to know the details, you'll only take them home with you and harass past me, which is not okay. All you need to know is that I had a bad day, drank with Cas, and one thing led to another. Now, on occasion, when we've both had exceptionally shitty days, and he's not in the mood for an orgy, we'll get together."

"And other Dean is okay with this? From my understanding, he spent last night here."

"Not for that. He might not overly like me right now but he still values my opinion, and… if he's good and drunk, he'll come here to talk."

"About?"

She gave him a none of your business look.


This was the most awkward hunting trip ever. 2009 Dean seated up front in 2014 Dean's ride with Castiel, Jane and Chuck. Behind them in another vehicle were other hunters from the camp, future Dean sitting up front with him, driving. He knew his presence was making things complicated for everyone. His future self seemed more accepting of the situation now and had given him a lecture to say 'yes' to Zachariah when he got back to his own time, assuming he got back. it was a fairly safe bet he would, Zach seemed intent on teaching a lesson or proving a point here. He couldn't do all that if Dean died.

Chuck was staring out the window, looking resigned. Jane and Castiel were sitting side by side, close enough to touch. Cas was playing with another baggie, this one carrying pills. Jane was watching him, her nose wrinkled as he eventually took a few.

"Amphetamine's?" Dean asked, accepting the bag when it was passed forward and examining it before handing it back.

"Want a few?"

He shook his head no.

"It's the perfect antidote for absinthe."

"Cas, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you got that stick out of your ass but what the hell? What's with the drugs, the orgies, and that love-guru crap?"

Jane sucked in a deep breath between her teeth, giving him a look that clearly said she wished he wouldn't have asked.

He arched an eyebrow at her, shrugging one shoulder. His attention was back on Castiel when Cas began laughing, though his blue eyes showed a hint of pain. "What? What's so funny?"

"You didn't tell him?" Cas shifted slightly so he was leaning into Jane, frowning ever so slightly when she gave a single shake of her head. "Why not?"

"It wasn't my place."

"Well, Dean, I'm not an angel anymore."

"What?"

"Yeah," Cas looked away from Jane. "I'm mortal now, I went native."

There were no words to describe how he felt right now. Confused was at the top of the list, how the hell had Cas gone 'native'? Hurt and sad at the fact that his wife, his future wife was holding the non-angel's hand and squeezing gently and in return, Castiel was absent-mindedly stroking her palm with his thumb in a gesture that seemed more intimate then it was. If this was Zachariah toying with him, he was going to douse that son of a bitch in holy oil and light a match, because this was above and beyond Zach's general asshat levels and right into pure evil.

"I think it was the other angels leaving, or something to do with them. When they left, my mojo just kind of-" He made a noise mimicking an explosion as well as a diving hand gesture. "Drained away. Now, I'm practically human and basically useless. Last year, I broke my foot, I was laid up for two months."

Castiel as a human. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"So, you're human. Welcome to the club."

"Thanks, except I used to belong to a much nicer club and now, now I'm powerless. I'm hapless. I'm hopeless. So, why not, I mean, why not bury myself in women and decadence, right?" Cas' grip on Jane's hand tightened when she went to pull it away, bending down to press his forehead against hers.

Dean was noticing this was a common gesture between them, trying to ignore the coiling of his guts.

"Why not bang a few gongs before I go out?"

"Nice Cas." Jane whispered.

Dean turned back around until he was staring out the windshield, ignoring the look other Dean was giving him.

"I know that face," He said, sounding annoyed. "Let me tell you right now, get rid of it because this is just how it is. If you want your happy ever after, you're screwed. So deal with the crap, bury it, and move on because we got shit to do and tending to your feelings ain't on the agenda, got me?"

Did he actually sound like that?