Fic: Supernatural: Dean/Future Cas: The Long Road Back: Rated R (1/28)
Title: The Long Road Back
Author: Nicole
Rating: R (maybe NC-17 later to be safe)
Chapters: 1/? (19 so far but i'm still writing)
Warnings: language,violence, drug use, eventual slash
Spoilers: only up to 5 X 4 (but you'll see me draw from information we found out later)
Characters/Pairings: focus on Dean/Future Cas but also Risa, Chuck, OC's, Sam, and future Dean.
Disclaimer: Supernatural is not mine and I don't own anything but the errors.
Summary: AU 5 X 04 The End fic. Dean stops his future self from sending Cas and the others into a trap and Zachariah seems to be missing in action. Dean has to figure out where to go from here.
A/N: This fic has been consuming my brain in a good way. It's already over 25,000 words and I'm not done. I really wanted to play around in this world, i love apocalyptic type settings, and i thought it would be a good way to keep myself busy during the hiatus. This story is going to have action and violence, but the focus of this fic will be a love story in the middle of a world gone to hell between a certain hunter and a certain fallen angel. If you have a problem with that, don't read it.
Word count: 1431
“Cas too?” Dean choked out. The former angel might be a hippie, but he was still, Cas. He’d stood by him through it all. Even when Sam had given up and said yes. Even when he’d lost his angel mojo. They obviously didn’t deserve that loyalty. If this is what I’m going to turn into, I might as well die now, fighting. There was no way Dean could stand here and let this happen.
Dean saw the attack coming . He could read himself like a book. He knew all his tricks. Dean blocked the hook that came at his face. He returned the gesture, and watched himself go down hard.
Dean sighed, bent over, and snatched the colt. He dropped it into his jacket pocket.
This is wonderful. The world ended. I turned into an even bigger dick. My brother turned into Satan. And Cas became a junkie. Freaking fantastic.
The question was, what the hell did he do next? Go ahead with the attack, but take the back way. Tell everyone to get back in the jeeps and haul ass back to base camp. One thing was for sure, he couldn’t just leave his future self lying here to die. No matter how much he might deserve it. That wasn’t something he could live with.
Dean groaned as he slung the more bitter version of himself over his shoulder and carried him back to the others.
Cas was staring at him with a mixture of surprise, and a bit of relief.
Dean dropped him on the ground in front of them. “I know this looks bad, but I can explain.”
Cas just laughed, it wasn’t a happy laugh, it was that same broken one he’d heard way too much since arriving here. It was the laugh of someone with nothing left to lose. Someone who had lost themselves to pain. He’d heard it from his own lips a few times.
“Do we really have time for this right now?” Risa snapped.
“Trust me, we need to make the time,” Dean replied. “No one is going in there. It’s a trap.”
They all stared at him, then down at their unconscious leader.
Cas met his gaze. “He was sending us to our death’s wasn’t he?” There was no laughter in his voice.
Dean found he had a hard time answering. He knew it technically wasn’t him that had betrayed Cas. But it was something he would do in the future. He hated himself for it.
“Yes,” he forced out. “He was going to use you all as a distraction while he… we went around the back. As you can see, I wasn’t too happy about that plan.”
Cas smiled again, that sad, horrible smile that made his heart ache. “I can see that. It looks like our fearless leader is taking a much needed time out.”
“Perfect. Men are such dicks,” Risa looked around nervously. “What are we going to do now?”
“I vote for getting the hell out of here now,” Dean blurted. He knew it was the right call. He had to get these people back to safety. They didn’t stand a chance here. This reeked so bad of a setup Dean could hardly breathe. They needed to regroup. Now was not the day to try and kill the devil, because the devil was expecting them. Dean didn’t allow himself to think of Sammy being the devil’s meat suit. He couldn’t go there. One problem at a time. There was still a chance when Zachariah beamed him back to the present he could stop this.
“You sure?” Cas asked.
“Yes. Load everything back into the trucks. Including him,” Dean gestured towards the ground.
He had to hand it to these people, they were survivors, and they knew what they were doing. Which made him even sicker at what his future self had been willing to do. Within minutes they were on the road again. Dean had hogtied his alter ego and thrown him in the backseat of his and Cas’s ride. He’d tied the ropes a little more tightly than necessary, but he didn’t care. He was pissed.
Cas had taken the wheel again, and Dean hadn’t argued. It wasn't like this was his rodeo. The two other cars followed along behind them. No one had said much since he’d dropped the bombshell that they had been cattle fodder to their leader.
“Dean. You can’t blame yourself.”
Dean turned to look at the former angel, who still seemed to be able to read people better than the average human. “I’m fine.”
“I can feel the guilt and anger pouring off you,” Cas rummaged in his pocket and pulled out more pills. He popped a few into his mouth and then offered him the bottle. “This’ll help.”
Dean felt his heart sink even more. The future sucked. Dean took the bottle, his fingers brushed Cas’s for a brief second, but it was enough for him to notice they were trembling. He forced himself to look down at the label. It read diazepam. Which he knew from one of his many hospital stays, was Valium. An anti-anxiety medication. So his friend was taking uppers and downers.
“Jesus, Cas. How much of this stuff do you take?”
“As much as I want,” he chuckled.
“You don’t need this man.”
“Don’t you preach to me. That’s the last thing I need.”
“I wasn’t trying…I’m just worried about you, Cas. This isn’t you.”
His voice lost it’s fervor, and Dean barely caught the soft. “It is now.”
Dean started to reach out and put a hand on his friends, now sagging shoulders when Mr. Sunshine decided to wake up and bless them with his insightful wisdom.
“Yeah, you’re a real winner now aren‘t you, Cas? No powers and can’t go more than five minutes without your next fix. Fucking pathetic,” Dean cringed at the sound of his own voice dripping with cruelty and spite. It made him want to throw up.
“Look who’s awake and kicking,” Cas’s voice was calm, with a touch of humor. But Dean noticed how tightly he was now gripping the steering wheel. He wanted to reach back and gag the dick.
“And how are you feeling?” Cas quipped.
“Shut up!” he snarled.
“Yes, sir,” Cas gave a mock salute.
Dean snorted. Cas had gotten really good at sarcasm.
“You think this is funny?” his own voice tore into him.
Dean turned. “No. I most definitely don’t think this is funny. You know what I will find amusing? Gagging you if you don’t shut the hell up.”
“Can I help?” Cas asked.
“Of course. I’ll hold him, you can gag him.”
Cas and Dean smiled at each. For just a moment he caught a glimpse of the old Cas under all that pain. Then the less charming version of himself spoke again, and the moment was lost.
“Aren’t you two just freaking hilarious?”
Dean reached under his seat and pulled out a half empty roll of duct tape. He turned, and slapped a piece over his counterparts mouth, almost getting bit in the process.
He sat back down, put the tape away, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes.
He heard Cas chuckling softly next to him.
“You mind if I take a nap?”
Cas shook his head. “Nope. I’ll just enjoy the peace and quiet.”
Dean started to lean his seat back, thought better of it, and just settled for putting his temple against the cool glass of the window. He couldn’t sleep yet. What the other Dean had said to Cas, it kept eating at him. He opened his eyes.
“Cas,” He said softly.
“Yeah.”
“I’m glad you’re still here. Angel or human, I don’t care. It‘s nice to have someone I trust around.”
There was a moment of silence. Followed by a very soft, tentative. “Thank you.”
He could hear their prisoner struggling against the ropes. They’d have to deal with him when they got back to Camp Chitaqua. For now he just wanted to get some sleep, maybe he’d wake up safe and sound in his hotel room.
Yeah, and maybe a unicorn is going to come prancing out of the forest and offer you a burger.
“Wake me when we get there, or if you need me to take over.”
“I will. Get some sleep.”
“Thanks, Cas.”
Dean closed his eyes, and tried not to think about all the shit he was going to have to deal with when he woke up.
Next Chapter
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