[This Temple Tilts] Chapter Six
"Where's Cas?" Dean snaps at the two figures that appear in the middle of the room; even before he realizes who's there, he can tell that neither of them is Castiel. One is reedy and manages to look both old and young at the same time; the other is - "And what the fuck are you doing here?"
The tall one looks at him like he's just beaten the cutest puppy on the planet. Before Dean can protest or argue, Amy comes running around the corner with a shout of "Doctor!" She's hugging The Doctor before he seems to quite realize what's happening, but his face softens. "We were so worried," she says. "Everything is so wrong."
"Wouldn't be the first time, eh, Pond?" the Doctor says. He moves completely around Dean to hug Rory as well. Somewhere between confusion and frustration, Dean watches the man walk over to where the TARDIS is laying supine on the couch. "This is the TARDIS?" he says, touching one cheek before pulling some weird glowing device from his pocket and waving it over her almost randomly; it whirs, then stops as The Doctor shoves it back in his pocket.
"Yes," River says from an arm chair. The look she and the Doctor exchange is totally undecipherable, like his parents over dinner when he was practically a baby. "We don't have much time."
"Well, I did say you were a fighter," The Doctor says the TARDIS. "Alright, well, we have a lot to do then. Gabriel, think you can spring your brother from Heaven?"
"Gabriel?" Dean turns to look at the being he knows as the trickster, who shrugs at the Doctor's question. Sam is taking the stairs two at a time shouting, "I have an idea!" Amy is asking the Doctor, "We just need to get to the ship like last time, right?" Dean takes a gun off the table and shoots the trickster/Gabriel in the chest. Gabriel winces and gives Dean his best What the fuck? look, but it does the job of getting everyone's attention. "Someone is going to tell me what's going on right now!"
"Of course, Dean Winchester has to be in control," the Doctor snarls, turning and getting right in his face. It's weird, because any other skinny nerd this much in his personal space would be toast - but the Doctor actually pulls off intimidating, either by his ire or some other force that Dean doesn't understand. "The world can't possible turn without Dean Winchester imposing his personal morality on it, isn't that right? It doesn't matter what you break, so long as everyone is following your orders." The Doctor turns and freezes when he sees Sam staring at them from the door. "Oh. The real Sam Winchester."
"Where's Cas?" Dean asks again, his hands trembling and panic filling his chest. The Doctor turns back around like he's going to snap again, but he doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to, not really; Dean can read every judgment in the guy's face like he had printed it out on fucking sheet of paper. "Look, I don't know what your problem with me is, and I don't care - but Cas left to find you. Here you are, with whoever that is, and no Cas. Where is he?"
"Caught," Gabriel says, smoothing his shirt over the hole left by the gun. There's no blood, nothing to indicate that he was hurt at all. "Raphael got there just before I could get him out. Right now he's locked up tighter than a virgin's - "
"And can you get him?" the Doctor interrupts.
Gabriel looks uneasy. "Look, my cover is blown. On top of that inconvenience, it's been a couple millennia. With Dad MIA, I'm pretty sure they've changed the locks. I don't see how I can get in without being caught myself."
"You son of a bitch," Dean hisses at no one in particular. He's not sure if he's more angry with the Doctor or Gabriel or the angels, but he wishes he could punch one of them until he felt better. "You have any idea how pissed off the angels have to be at him right now? He's the one who busted me out! He let me stop Sam! You have to get him out."
"I can't," Gabriel replies testily. "But be my guest; get thy noble ass off to Heaven and bust him out."
Dean is about the shout, then pauses. "Would that work?"
"Dean!" Sam imposes himself in front of Dean and everyone else. "Look, Cas told me that you changed something," Sam says the Doctor. "We were supposed to fail."
The Doctor straightens his lapels and fiddles with his bow tie. "The angels think so."
"What did you do?"
"Well," the Doctor says; he grins suddenly, like he's remembered a great joke. "I took the doors off the abbey."
"The doors?" Dean asks. "That's all?"
"In the angel's version, it was a door that stopped you," the Doctor says. He doesn't sound quite so cheerful when he addresses Dean. "So I took the doors off. No doors. You sped right in and saved the world."
"And they want you to go back and put the doors back on," Sam says, nodding. He's clearly connecting the dots in his mind. "So, right, if they want you back at the abbey, doesn't it make sense that the TARDIS is there? I mean, worst case scenario, if you escape them without agreeing they can always assume you'll come for her."
The Doctor lights up when he looks at Sam. "Of course, yes! Right then, let's getting going before this world gets any worse!" River is stepping forward and Gabriel is hanging back. Sam is already saying something about going with, and Dean can feel the whole thing slipping out of his control - and he doesn't want it, he realizes. Let them take care of the TARDIS, let them save the world; Sam is more than capable. Instead he slides back closed to Gabriel, loath as he is to do so.
"Would that work?" he asks again, quiet enough not to be heard over everyone's plotting. "Could I break into Heaven?"
"If you're crazy enough to die and good enough to get there," Gabriel says under his breath. "Look, not that I don't like the kid, but maybe you ought to let his one go. He can take care of himself."
"Last time Heaven got hold of him, he came back a robot." Dean clears his throat. He doesn't want to do this. There's always that chance that Hell still has his number, and he's pretty sure there's no garrison of angels to come get him this time. But this is Cas - and Cas saved his ass from the chopping block enough times to deserve this. Dean stares at Sam's profile as he, River and the Doctor are arguing over the gadget she uses to hop through time. The Doctor looks pretty pissed off about it. "Any chance you can just, I don't know, kill me quietly? We both know it's your favorite past time."
Gabriel chuckles under his breath. "Sure. Once more for old time's sake. Give 'em hell."
He snaps. Everyone turns to look at them as Dean falls to his knees. This is what a heart attack feels like - his heart has stopped, right? The sudden transition is strange and terrifying, given that a second before it had been drumming hard. He hears Sam an awful far way off. Hands on his face, on his chest; the Doctor is in his vision before it falters. The guy at least has the decency to look stricken, but Dean closes his eyes so he can't see Sam's face.
It's a lot better than the last time he died. At least this time all his organs are in the right place.
* * *
"Hey there, Sam, you know that's not going to do anything," Gabriel says. Sam presses the blade tight against Gabriel's throat. He could honestly take the bastard's head off without a second's guilt. He'd be glad to do it. The sentiment must show in his eyes, because Gabriel's eyes widen just slightly. "Look, it's not for kicks this time - he asked me to do it!"
"Oh, aren't you a saint," Sam retorts. The knife draws blood against Gabriel's throat, but the cut is gone a moment later. Frustrated, Sam tosses the knife aside and settles for decking him. It's not as satisfying as Sam would have hoped, but Gabriel looks stunned by it. "Bring him back! Right now."
"No can do - he's out of my reach, and that's just how it is." He raises his voice when Sam makes an aborted move to hit him again. "He's probably in Heaven right now kicking some righteous angel ass. They don't know how to handle an attack from within. Besides, I sent him with a present. You ought to be thanking me."
"I ought to - I ought to bury you!" Sam rubs his face, and looks at where Dean is still laying on the ground. Very dead. He shudders and looks away, back to the Doctor. He should do something - he's no good to anyone if he can't focus, but his brother is dead. Again. No matter how many hundreds of time he's watched Dean die the memories still cut deep.
"Time is already broken!" River shouts, trying to snatch her wristband back from the Doctor. "How much damage could I possibly do at this point?"
"Lots!" The Doctor inspects it carefully. "These things are terrible for time. You may as well as just take scissors to the whole thing. No, we're going to have to do this the slow way. Sam, we need a car."
"A car!" River barks out a laugh, and Sam can only think about how Dean isn't breathing behind him. He covers his eyes with his hands and tries hard to focus. “You can hardly sit still enough to drink a cup of tea - you'll die in a car!”
“I'm perfectly capable riding in a car!”
Shut up shut up shut up - There's a hand on his, gently pushing his hands from his face. He's staring down at the Impala, who smiles at him with damp eyes. "It's okay, Sam," she says softly. "He's going to be okay. They're very special, your brother and his angel."
"How can you possible know?" He takes an uneven breath, and she wipes tears from his cheek with a sad smile.
"Trust me," she replies. She holds his face in her hands for another moment, then turns away. "Doctor! You need a car?"
The Doctor looks at her, looks her up and down before scanning her with his little whirring device. "Yes," he says, instantly. "Look at you! I haven't seen anything quite like you before."
"Not likely to again, either. Sam, grab the TARDIS and follow me." The Impala first approaches Dean, and Sam can't bring himself to look away. She kisses his forehead and whispers something to him, before reaching into his pocket and taking out her own keys. Sam scoops the TARDIS up carefully; she's lighter than he expected. Before he leaves to follow the Doctor, River, and the Impala out the front door, he turns to Gabriel and adds, "Guard him. I swear to God, I will hunt you down if anything else happens to him."
"Scout's honor," Gabriel says. Sam rushes out the door, where the Impala is leaning with both hands down on her hood. Sam slows to stop as he watches her hands. They glow, and his first impression is that they're going to burn straight through the hood of the Impala. Her eyes flutter closed, and her whole body shudders. The light spreads, following the veins up her arms and through her body; when her eyes snap open they glow. White, then gold, like a small sun as the light spreads across the metal. She convulses once, then everything is dark again as she falls against the hood of the car.
"What was that?" he asks, running with the TARDIS held close. She's too hot against his chest. He sees the Impala keys on the hood of the car. "What did she just do?"
"She just went home," the Doctor says. “Trade me - take her inside.”
River takes the TARDIS from Sam. Sam carries the woman who was the Impala inside and replaces her on the couch where the TARDIS rested before. He exchanges one more look with Fabriel before heading back to the Impala. The Doctor is sitting in the backseat with the TARDIS' head in his lap and her knees curled close to her body. River climbs in the passenger seat, and Sam takes the keys from the hood. He chokes up, horribly aware of Dean's absence - how pissed he was going to be that Sam drove the Impala first - but he shakes himself out of it. One thing at a time. He gets in and adjusts the front seat to get more comfortable. When he turns the key in the ignition, the engine rumbles to life as though nothing had ever been wrong.
With a silent apology, Sam peels off on the road. This drive is burnt in his memory. He remembers taking off down this road like a bat out of hell, determined that he was making the right decision - as though there was no way he could have been wrong. He licks his lips and asks the Doctor, "What's the game plan?"
"If we can get to the ship in time the TARDIS will be fine. From there I can... do something very clever," the Doctor says in the airy, scattered way that Sam is coming to suspect is normal.
"What do you mean, do something clever? You don't have a concrete plan?"
"He never does," River says, her smile grim. "How are we supposed to stop these angels? Is there any one thing that can undo all that they've done here? I don't suppose we can just go back and stop them from kidnapping you."
"No, of course not, don't be silly. A bunch of petulant children destroying daddy's den because they're - Oh! Oh, of course!"
"Of course what?" Sam asks, shifting as he moves up another gear. The road is zooming past, and Sam is determined not to let up until they arrive. "What's going on back there?"
"I can't stop them, but their Father can. Yes, I'll just have to go get God."
"You can find God?" River and Sam say at about the same time. Sam adds, "Even the angels can't find God."
"Well, he made them with that flaw. I am not so limited.”
“You? Funny guy in a tweed jacket is going to just boss God around?”
The Doctor snorts. “Please. Your god is an interplanetary guardian - every planet has a few dozen. This one is just more persuasive than most.” The Doctor taps on his window impatiently. “Once I have the TARDIS, finding god won't be hard. I see him occasionally. Card game. I couldn't explain it if I wanted to. Okay, yes. God's the plan."
River shakes her head but smiles, and Sam wonders where all that hope is coming from. He wants to latch on to it, carry it with him, but he's so weary that he isn't sure how he's even upright. It's not that he hasn't understood why Dean drinks, why Bobby is a recluse, why their dad was so obsessed - but every time this shit happens it gets more real, closer to his heart. "Okay," he says, trying his damnedest to fake that hope until it becomes a reality. "Let's fix your spaceship and go find God." Then he laughs, actually laughs. For second he can pretend he's on the road with family, without time breathing down his neck.
* * *
Dean's sitting on the hood of the Impala, beer in hand, and for a second he thinks it all might have been a dream. It's not the first time he's dozed off sitting still. Just as he's getting ready to tell Sam about the weirdest fucking dream he just had, his cell phone rings. Along with a pink cellphone encrusted with little white and purple rhinestones, which definitely isn't his, he finds the keys to the Impala in the pocket of his jeans.
The phone has one new message. There's no name or number, but it's not hard to guess the sender. Hello, sunshine. You're off angel radar right now. Weapon in the car.
Right. Dead in Heaven. That's one obstacle down.
Dean climbs into the front seat of the Impala, and it the shape and weight feels perfect. The road stretches infinitely in front of him, straight and smooth. There's a curved sword in an ornate gilded sheath on the passenger seat. Dean reaches over and picks it up by the leather-wrapped handle. It looks old and too fancy for practical use. He unsheathes the blade; it looks like a machete with a wicked curve in the middle. He re-sheaths it and pulls the phone out of his pocket. You expect me to take on angels with a machete?
He starts the car, and that's that - he takes off, foot hard on the petal. It feels like stretching his legs after a long drive, like flying without the pesky addition of height. It's perfect - nearly perfect. He gets another message. The road is straight and empty for miles, so he answers - what the hell, he's dead already. Treat that with respect - you're borrowing it. It'll burn through angel ass like a lightsaber through Obiwan.
Rolling his eyes, Dean slows the car to a crawl (loving the feel of the pedal under his feet again; it's been entirely too long) and asks Where am I going? Dean guns it while he waits for a reply. Eventually he's got to get somewhere, right? And honestly, just driving is nice. He rolls down his window and breathes in the scent of pre-dawn dew and wilderness. This is what Heaven would be if he had designed it - perfect days for driving and his car in perfect condition - except that empty passenger seat. Driving alone, while nice, is no way to spend eternity. Driving with Sam stretched out in the backseat, bitching about the lack of leg room, and Castiel in the front seat staring at a map like it's offended him personally. That's his ideal these days.
The sun begins to set even through it had just started to rise. Dark clouds roll in, obscuring any light that the moon might have brought. Dean considers driving without the headlights but it's so dark that the only reason he knows he isn't off-road is by the smoothness of the ride. When he flips the headlights, he realizes he not driving on anything at all - or perhaps the smoothest, blackest asphalt that Heaven could arrange. A damp chill in the air permeates the car, and Dean slows again. He rolls up his window. The phone chirps.
Tread cautiously, padawan. Search your feelings. You know them to be true.
Bracing the wheel with his forearms, Dean taps out a quick message: Quit it with the Star Wars.
The reply is instant. I was being perfectly serious.
Speeding again, Dean pulls the weapon in his lap and keeps one hand wrapped around the hilt. He flips the headlights off, and does his best to follow his feelings. Hopefully they don't lead him astray.
* * *
Dawn is approaching rapidly, and Sam knows that the abbey isn't much further. At some point during the night River fell asleep, her face pressed against the cold glass. She snores like their dad used to, and sleeps like a hunter ought to - that is, like a rock, anywhere she can get it. Meanwhile, the Doctor has been silent in the backseat. He's nearly vibrating in place, like doing 110 miles per hour isn't fast enough to get to where he needs go. Then again - compared to a spaceship, 110 probably feels like crawling.
The closer they get to the abbey, the more the world seems to be unraveling. They pass a settlement of American Indians; four men chased them on horses as they sped through. When Sam stopped for gas, the attendant was holding a newspaper from 1903, and Sam actually watched the coolers disappear. The buildings of a city they passed through seemed to be crumbling and reforming around them, and Sam saw a person collapse into nothingness. The road eventually disappeared, leaving patches of gravel or dirt instead.
Sam clears his throat. "You think we can fix this?" he asks the Doctor, quiet enough that he hopes not to wake River. He can feel the panic on the edge of his words; he hasn't felt this terrible since he'd detoxed off the demon blood - and for the first time wonders if time is rewinding within him as well.
"I believe anything can be fixed," the Doctor says. Sam swallows and nods. Sure. He and Dean had stopped Armageddon, and they were just people - a time traveler ought to have a lot more juice. "Your brother would have argued," the Doctor says as Sam pushes his foot to the pedal, forcing the car to go just a little bit harder. She obeys beneath him, and Sam appreciates the car even more. "You hardly seem related."
"We're more alike than people think," Sam replies, trying to keep his cool. He can see the abbey looming in the distance.
"Superficially, maybe. Your rage is quiet, his is loud, that sort of thing - but it's not the same, not really. Guns. Your brother is all guns and anger.”
“I use guns.”
The Doctor clicks his tongue. “Your brother lives for this life, though. I spent weeks with the darkest parts of your brother, and he says that all time - people going dark side. Does this go any faster?"
"She's doing her best," Sam replies.
The Doctor snorts. After a short stretch of silence he adds, "You should come with me, when this is done. Amy and Rory are all settled in now, and I do hate my own company. You seem like just the sore, if we can just fit you through the door of the TARDIS - have you see yourself? It's like your god built you on a larger scale. You're magnificent."
Sam tries not to be tempted by the offer, but it's hard. The idea wakes something childish and giddy in his chest, a welcome counterbalance to the dread in his stomach. "We have to find the TARDIS before we can go flying off in it." As the road to the abbey weaves uphill, trees grow younger all around them. Sam elbows River. She seems to jump from asleep to alert in a moment. Definitely military instincts that their dad would appreciate. "We're almost there," he says.
"Good thing." River rubs her face and runs her hands through her hair. "We can't have much time left."
The Doctor doesn't say anything in the backseat. Sam keeps his agreement to himself.
Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Epilogue