[This Temple Tilts] Chapter Three
On the second night of Castiel's absence Dean just drinks. Sam is accompanying River on some other goose chase. And Dean finds drinking alone to be the very best drinking.
Drinking alone means that he's not thinking alone. Stretched out on the couch and letting Back to the Future play in the background, Dean nurses his drink and resolutely doesn't think as he watches the light of the television splashes shadows on the ceiling. "Any chance that another round of prayers will get your attention, Castiel?" he says quietly to himself, unsure if the churning in his stomach is too much to drink or worry.
"You've been doing that an awful lot." Dean looks over as Bobby walks in, his kit slung over his shoulder and shotgun tucked under one arm. "Praying, I mean. When'd he become your guardian angel?"
Dean shakes his head. "Just an angel that follows me around."
"Follows you around. Sure." Bobby adjusts his hat and shifts his pack. "It's just that I see an awful lot of you moping and him not showing up. You gonna die of heartbreak if I leave you here alone?"
"Don't be a dick, Bobby," Dean says, shifting to sit up. "I do not mope."
“Fine - let's call it 'pining' then and pretend that's different.”
"I'm not," Dean protests, downing the dregs of his drink, the whiskey watered down by ice. "I've never pined in my life."
"You keep telling yourself that. In the mean time, we got creepy kids eatin' their parents the next town over. I'll be back tomorrow." Bobby leaves without any more accusations of feelings, and Dean pours himself another drink. Unfortunately, it has turned into thinking alone, regardless of how much more drinking he drowns it in.
The noise like wings comes a split second before the space Bobby abandoned is suddenly a lot more full. Dean perks up. "Cas!" Except it's not just Castiel - there's also a red-head that for a split second Dean thinks is Anna and a guy who looks like someone Sam would've hung out with in high school. "Damn it, Cas, I've been calling!"
Castiel stares at him for too long, and Dean takes a long sip of his drink to keep the buzz rolling. "I left the planet," Castiel says finally. "I did not realize it took me two days."
"Did you find anything?" The strangers sit awkwardly on the loveseat, and Dean notices that they're holding hands. He turns to Castiel who is squinting at Dean like he's trying to understand something.
Dean loses the staring contest, and instead asks, "Where are your clothes?"
"Jimmy looked ridiculous in that monkey suit," the red-head says. That's apparently all it takes before the air of tension around her turns into something more gregarious, and she smiles. "You must be Dean. I'm Amy. This one is Rory, my husband." Rory waves a bit awkwardly, examining his surroundings as if taking very careful notes. Yeah, he was going to get on with Sam like a house on fire. Amy continues at Dean, "We both traveled with the doctor. Now, where is River? I need to talk to her."
"She's with my brother looking for someone, I can't remember who, and what do you mean Jimmy looked ridiculous?" He looks back at Castiel, who looks entirely out of place in clothes that any normal guy would wear, like he's just a dude. It's disquieting. "How does she know about Jimmy?"
"I had to leave him behind on Earth. I could not sustain the speed necessary to follow the TARDIS and keep him in one piece. He stayed with them." Castiel finds a corner of the room and leans against the wall, staring at his hands. He looks weary, and Dean wonders where that expression came from. Last he checked, Castiel was just barely managing facial expressions between 'bored' and 'worried.' "I can go find River, if necessary."
"Not necessary," Sam says, entering the room with a skip in his step. His cheeks are flushed like a kid coming off a roller coaster, and River is on his heels. "I just saw a military base in space. I just met alien soldiers."
"It gets mundane eventually, trust me," River says. She lights up when she sees Amy; she hugs both Amy and Rory, and Dean wonders if they're related. They don't look related, but that doesn't mean everything. Sam is immediately crouched in front of his laptop on the coffee table, checking what he's dubbed as the Armageddon Feed. "Have you seen him?"
"No," Amy says, "but the angel knows something."
The room goes silent as every looks at Castiel, who looks up as though pulled out of a daydream. "My brothers have taken the Doctor. They've erased his energy from this world, which is why we can't find him. I met an abomination that confirms it."
"Why would angels want the Doctor?" River sits back. "The Doctor hasn't even mentioned your brand of angel - if you weren't here in front of me, I wouldn't believe it."
"I wish I knew. I have a... contact in Heaven. One I believe to be unbiased. He has been less than helpful in my previous inquiries, but perhaps this time he will more forthcoming."
"In Heaven?" Dean asks. Amy rolls her eyes at the word and looks away from Castiel. "So, what, you're headed off again? You think that's such a good idea?"
Castiel scowls at him. "No one can do this but me; Heaven is not easy to travel to as space."
"Cas, you can't just - "
"I will return when I have news," Castiel snaps, gone at the same second he finishes speaking.
"Stubborn fucking angels," Dean says under his breath, closing his eyes. This was stupid. They were fighting over nearly nothing these days, and it was just getting worse. "What do we have? Do we actually have anything?"
"Venice is rising."
"What?" Rory says, crossing the room to where Sam is scowling at his computer. They crouch shoulder-to-shoulder while they read. "I've been there - its sinking. Water everywhere."
"Well, it's supposed to be sinking," Sam says. "The water level is dropping. No one can explain it, but it's happening fast."
“May I?” Sam nods, and Rory pulls the computer close to him. After a couple of minutes and what sounds like a couple Google searches, he adds, "It's not just Venice. The Parthenon seems to be rebuilding itself."
"So, time is going backwards?" Amy looks around at them. "That's what that'd take - time reversing. These angels have taken the Doctor and are rewinding time? Why?"
Dean meets Sam's eyes, but neither of them can quite bring themselves to say it. It's been a long fucking year, and the last thing Dean wants to consider is that they might be facing Apocalypse 2: Apocalypse Harder. "We'll figure it out," Dean says. "Cas will find something."
* * *
Castiel ducks through the back doors and side alleys of Heaven, so to speak; he cuts through individual paradises and is careful to avoid the parts of Heaven he knows to be more densely populated. Thankfully it's a journey he's made before; finding the garden is no so difficult a second time.
Joshua is tending an aloe plant as Castiel winds his way between towering Sequoia trees, fledgling wheat whispering past his legs as he follows the dirt path to where Joshua works. "Hello brother," Joshua says without looking up from his delicate work. "Surely you have not come again to ask after our Father."
"No," Castiel replies. "Though if you have changed your mind, I would be glad of it."
"I have not." Joshua smiles up at him, but the expression does not bring Castiel joy. Instead his stomach knots, and he clears his throat. This expression of nerves is entirely too human, and he can see that thought in Joshua's eyes. The human form that Joshua projects is merely for Castiel's appeasement. Joshua looks away, pouring water over his plants. "Have you come about Raphael's new plan, then?"
"Is it Raphael at the center of this?"
"He is." Joshua moves to lush rose bush and prunes the weakest blooms; they disappear before they hit the ground. "He has found a new way to beat you - using his brute force against the world instead. You should be glad, Castiel. Before this, the path you were walking was your end.”
Worry coils in his heart, but he pays it no mind. There are more important concerns. "Why does Raphael have the Doctor?"
Joshua looks over from his work, but his hands never still. "The Doctor is a curious creature. God did not craft him - he has no business in our affairs, and yet he finds his way into them again and again. He averted the apocalypse before it started, and for that Raphael is holding him hostage."
"The Winchesters averted the apocalypse."
"In one time, yes. In this one... they had some help." Joshua's attention falters, and he sets his tools aside. "What do you ask of me, Castiel? It is not my intention to interfere in these matters, any more than I was willing to interfere in your previous quarrels."
"Nothing is beyond God's sight, and I know you still speak to Him. I just want to know what they're doing," Castiel says, close to pleading as he steps closer. "I will take it unto myself to stop them, but I do not understand. The Doctor is a time traveler and can cross planes, but we do not need another being's aid to travel through time."
"But we need another one to change it." Joshua pulls himself to his full height, and in truth he's much taller than Castiel; even as an angel, his form is beyond Castiel's comprehension. He can see the thrum of power beneath the false skin of Joshua's visage, as though it could break apart at any moment. He knows that if Joshua willed it he would never leave this place. "God allowed angels to observe time, but he never gave us the power to change it. Whether we know it or not, our actions are His will. The Doctor isn't one of God's creations, and is not subject to those rules. The Doctor can change the world in delicate, clever ways. Raphael and his ilk are trying to use force to turn back time - to restart Armageddon. They will fail, but they will rip the world apart before they concede defeat."
Castiel takes a step closer to Joshua, but can't force himself any closer. "They want the Doctor to reverse what he changed. What did he change?"
Joshua shakes his head and looks away. "I have given you everything you need."
"You haven't!"
Joshua turns a kind eye toward Castiel. "You are a curious creature, Castiel. In ways you act nearly human. But you cannot borrow Dean Winchester's habit of yelling until it changes something. It will not work here."
Castiel can't explain the rage that spreads through his limbs, has no idea how he's supposed to express it. He wants to lash out. He wants to shout or break something - anything that will make this world start taking him seriously. He's tired of being told how things are going to be, without having a say in his own fate or the fate of the people he -
"It is okay to love, brother," Joshua says softly, as though Castiel had spoken aloud. "But consider that love does not always make us better."
* * *
Dean is pouring coffee at about the same time Bobby rushes through the front door, still dirty and stinking of sweat from whatever had happened with the creepy cannibal children. He doesn't even blink at the extra additions to his kitchen, instead going straight to turn on the television.
" - no one quite understands it," the man on the television says, walking down the street of what looks like some city's historic district. They pass two bewildered police officers, dressed in outdated gear. Dean snorts into his coffee; looks like a couple yahoos got caught in something time-related. "It could be called the most elaborate prank in US history, except the Empire State building - " The camera pans shakily to the skyline.
"Holy shit," Sam breathes at the same time Amy shouts, "No way!"
"According to city historians, that is the Empire State building circa 1930." Someone off camera shouts in a heavy accent, and the screen flashes back to an anchorwoman in a news room. "Still developing, New York City in an uproar this morning. We'll continue updates as we have more on these radical and unexplained circumstances. Residents are advised to stay inside and to lock your doors. We're getting more reports of violence and riots in heavily populated areas."
Dean turns off the television. "Sam, pack up, we're going." He grabs his keys at the same second he remembers that his car is collecting dust for a reason.
"Don't be foolish, I can have us there in minutes." River calibrates her wristband.
"Sam, you go," Dean says, standing back as though she would snatch him out of the air. "No way I'm doing that voluntarily again. Call when you get there. I'll try to contact Cas."
"Keep praying, Dean," River says with a lopsided smirk as he grabs hold of Sam and Rory. They're gone before Dean can retort, and he turns to Bobby, who is staring pointedly at where Amy is attempting to cook breakfast. As far as Dean can tell, Rory is the actual cook in that family.
"Amy Williams," Dean says. "This is Bobby. He owns the place. Bobby, she and her husband were the last people the Doctor traveled with."
"And just when did my house get a revolving door on it?" Bobby grouses, dropping his gear on the floor. He looks like he hasn't slept in far too long, but isn't as put-out as he sounds. "I'm gonna charge this Doctor rent when we find him. I'm takin' a shower, boy. Hold the fort." With that Bobby climbs the stairs. Amy looks over her shoulder at Dean.
"Is he upset?"
"Not really," Dean says. "You get used to it." He excuses himself to the living room and sits on the couch. All this sitting and waiting is the worst - he should have gone with them to New York. If he trusted River with Sam, it wasn't that big a deal, right? Still, he gets reflexively nauseous thinking about it. Before trying to contact Castiel, he checks Sam's news feed - still open on the laptop. It looks like San Francisco is having a weird morning as well. Pictures show helicopters hovering over a Golden Gate Bridge that's still under construction, and long-dead prisoners rioting in Alcatraz. Dean clears his throat.
"My - Our Castiel, who art doing recon in Heaven, please turn on your ringer." He lowers his voice and closes his eyes. One of his patchy memories of his mother is her showing him how to kneel at his bedside, kissing his hair and whispering Of course God is listening, baby. He wonders if she believed it. "Come on, Cas. I know we're not really getting along right now, but this is getting really bad. Sam just went to New York with River. Just keep an eye on him for me, okay? Please?"
He smells the food before he sees Amy, who sits down next to him and holds a plate of eggs and toast right in front of him. He sets the laptop aside and thanks her as he takes it. It's not bad. Bland, but hot and cooked through - Dean couldn't have done it better. "You have that much faith in your angel?" she asks.
"He's not my angel, he's just an angel who happens to be my friend."
"Doesn't sound like you're friends right now." Amy leans back with her food on her lap, but just picks at her plate without eating much. "I - How can you let him do that to Jimmy?"
"Jimmy? He..." Dean closes his eyes and clears his throat. "Look, that sucks. I hate that. I met the guy's wife and daughter. He does this for his kid. Angels follow bloodlines, and if it wasn't Jimmy, it was his her.”
“That doesn't make it okay. I don't know how you look at him and see anything but a man being held prisoner.”
“I met Cas first. He doesn't look like anyone but Cas to me.” Dean finds he's lost his appetite, and he swallows before he admits, “It's easy to forget Jimmy."
"I can't," Amy says, leaning forward and setting her plate on the coffee table. Dean follows suit. "All I can think about is what he's stealing from Jimmy. It's a terrible feeling, having your body taken from you."
Dean looks over at her. She's clearly lost in her own world; to call her expression haunted would be to undercut the pain he can see in it. "I'm sorry," he says, staring at his hands to give her some privacy.
"It's okay," Amy says, conviction in her voice. "I mean, no, it's terrible, but there's nothing to do now but keep going. We just - we keep going. We can't wallow in what we can't change.”
* * *
Sam can hardly believe his eyes when they touch down in the middle of a damn near abandoned street corner. He half-expects everything to be in that weird sepia tone of old photos. The whole city seems to be under construction, the infrastructure both brand new and complete ancient. "I feel like I should take pictures," he says, touching the side of a building. It's real. It's solid. His heart drops. "What do you think happened to people living in buildings that don't exist anymore?"
"No idea," River says. "But I'm willing to bet that it isn't pretty. Nothing on here that would indicate the Doctor is nearby, but I do have something strange here."
"That would be me," Castiel says from behind them; they turn as he joins them. "Dean told me."
Rory looks around as thought trying to evaluate risks. He reminds Sam of a soldier in his bearing and the way he seems to be looking for all the vantage points. "Any idea of what's going on?"
"Angels are meddling in time. In trying to reset the apocalypse, they're breaking time all over the world. I can see the strands now, and they - " Castiel looks up suddenly, staring at the sky, then down at the ground. "This is not just the angels. This is the TARDIS. Follow me!" He takes off running, and Sam can't think of any time he's seen Castiel run. They follow close behind, as Castiel takes corners without warning, as he speeds up and stops and turns in circles and tilts his head as though he's listening for something. Clearly he's doing something right, because suddenly River's wristband beeps and she squints at it as they run.
"He's right," she says; Sam, behind her, can hear the excitement in her voice. Of the three of them, Rory is keeping pace with Castiel. "This is the TARDIS. West, Castiel!" Castiel obeys, rushing them past old grocery stores, past more and more people who look out of place and confused and agitated. Sam hears sirens in the distance.
They turn a corner to nearly run into the only two other modern people Sam had seen in the past mile: two women, the woman from the hotel seems to be bowed under the weight of her own shoulders and the other has a gun pointed at Castiel before she looks over at him. It's right then when Sam realizes he left Bobby's unarmed. Rory seems poised to jump into action, but her face lights up in a smile as she surveys the group. "Sam! Goodness, you're even bigger than I realized." She reminds him of Cassie, if Cassie had been rougher around the edges and owned a gun - one of Dean's guns.
"I, uh. What?"
"This is the Impala," Castiel says, walking past her without any apparent concern for the gun; the Impala lets her arm fall to he side and walks toward Sam. "And this is the TARDIS."
"This is the Impala?" Sam asks, watching as the short-haired woman walks circles around him, poking him with the muzzle of her gun here and there as though she doesn't understand him. The TARDIS, pulling her posture straight, smiles warmly and Rory and leans forward to ruffle his hair. "Are you sure?"
"Definitely!" she says. She tucks her gun recklessly into the back of her pants and jumps up to wrap her arms around his neck. She uses all her weight to pull him down to her. "You and Dean carved your initials into me," she says in a soft voice. "You lived your whole life under my protection. I have loved you from the moment your father first buckled you into my back seat."
Sam stiffens. "This is impossible. I mean, you're a car."
"And so much more." She leaves suddenly, moving to where Castiel and River are arguing with the TARDIS. The space ship and time machine all crammed into a woman. When Sam saw her last she seemed to be in good physical health, but her complexion is ashen and her eyes bloodshot. When she puts her hand on Rory's shoulder and says something about the pretty one, Sam can see the tremor in her movement. The Impala imposes herself between the group and the TARDIS. "We don't know where he is either!"
"She's not well," Sam says, standing behind Castiel. "What do you know that we don't?"
The TARDIS looks at him and smiles again. "He broke their plan," she says. She doesn't sound any better than she looks. The Impala sets a steadying hand on the small of the TARDIS' back. "My Doctor, silly thing, got surprised by angels in a tomb, isn't that just ridiculous? They separated us, and I cannot remember where they put me."
"Well, you found us in Riverside - so aren't you in Riverside? That's easy, right?" Sam looks over at the Impala stands just to her right and isn't sure if he finds her terrifying or perfect. The woman, whoever she is, has got to be hard as nails. Sam is certain that Dean would find her attractive. Which, really, is so wrong, now that Sam stops to think about it. "Do you remember how you got to Riverside?"
The TARDIS shakes her head. "No, they put me there. They tore me apart and threw me away. And I cannot stop - because the angels are breaking time, and it breaks faster when I'm near. It was a mistake to stay in this city for so long.” The TARDIS clears her throat and looks over at Castiel. “I don't think he's in this time at all."
"This..." River stiffens as if stunned. "Of course! If you want to keep the Doctor in one spot, you put him and his TARDIS far, far apart. Even that isn't guaranteed to work. We need to take you to where the angels have you hidden."
"Only the angels know." The TARDIS coughs and her whole body shudders; Rory rushes forward to help hold her upright, and Sam is surprised that the Impala doesn't punch him in the face by the look she shoots him. The TARDIS kisses Rory's forehead as she steadies herself. "If we find my Doctor, we find the angels." She looks at Castiel, who nods.
"I'll find him," he says, quietly in a voice Sam thought was reserved for Dean. It surprises him, the tenderness there. Then the ground rumbles underfoot. "We need to go," Castiel says. "Time is getting weaker every second."
"But we can't just leave them here - we'll work better together!" Sam moves to get closer to the women, but River holds him back. "Why can't we work together?"
"You're safer without us - we'll find you." The Impala takes the TARDIS by the hand - they step back. Rory hesitates before nodding and moving close to River, a hand on her shoulder.
"Go," Castiel tells River as he grabs Sam's wrist. "I've got Sam." Castiel meets the TARDIS' gaze again, as though they're saying something that Sam doesn't understand, and then old New York is gone. They've touched down in a far corner of Singer Salvage. Castiel releases Sam and stretches his fingers. "Sam, do you remember anything strange happening before you and Dean confronted Lilith?"
"Define strange," Sam says, rubbing his face to clear away the fuzzy feeling of extraterrestrial travel. He doesn't want to talk about that. He hates the pit that forms in his gut whenever he thinks of how close they came to setting the devil loose on the world.
Castiel runs a hand through his hair, and he looks less angelic than usual. There's something visceral to him that Sam can't quite understand. "The Doctor changed something that allowed you to defeat Lilith without freeing Lucifer. The angels want him to change it, but I don't know what it is."
Sam tries to remember through the haze of blood lust that had powered his every move up until Dean had arrived in that church. "Nothing. I was going to do it, and Dean stopped me. We killed Lilith and Ruby in Texas, and buried the bodies under devil's traps."
Nodding, Castiel leans back on a rusted minivan and stares up at the bright morning sky. The day is slightly chilled and the colors seem too saturated. It doesn't seem like birds should be singing when the world is falling apart. "I don't know what to do, Sam. There's so much in this world that needs fixing, and God cannot be found to do it. I don't see how the Doctor can repair this."
Sam narrows his eyes at Castiel. "What do you mean, God can't be found?" He's surprised when Castiel looks away. "Cas? What's aren't you telling us?"
"This isn't the first attempt Raphael and his followers have made to free Lucifer again. I have - ” Castiel clears his throat. “I have been trying to find God to stop them, but he refuses to show himself."
With a pang in his chest that reminds Sam of all those times he and Dean couldn't find their dad, Sam puts a hand on his shoulder and says, "Tell me everything, Cas."
* * *
Staring out the window, every breath like shredded glass as she watches Romans march through the town with their spears and shields, the TARDIS suddenly understands. One moment she's on the edge of despair, and the next it's clear as day. She turns to where the Impala is staring. "I have it! I am time."
"You alone?" the Impala teases, even through the concern lining her features.
"You would be surprised.” The TARDIS pulls the Impala toward the bed. They stumble into sitting positions, and the TARDIS clears her throat. "The angels will follow the Winchesters in every time line, no matter what becomes of them. I was drawn to your magic because you are my key to the Winchester's future. You are in every future as far as these angels are concerned, because the Winchesters are every future."
The Impala sits cross-legged across from her, leans forward, and presses their lips together tenderly - hardly a movement at all before it's over. The gesture is strange and comforting; the TARDIS finds that her borrowed eyes (which feel less borrowed every day) water. "I don't understand."
"Through you I can touch every future version of you. You will always be with your boys, and the Doctor will be there somewhere. Please trust me."
"Always."
The TARDIS clears her throat. "Close your eyes." The Impala complies, and the TARDIS braces her hands on either side of the Impala's face and expends all the energy she has left to search.
They laugh together as they drive down the road; the sun shines through Lisa's hair, and her eyes shine when she looks at Dean. In the back seat Ben is engrossed in some game, earbuds tucked firmly in his ears. "I know you grew up in this car, but I don't think we'll be able to fit a car seat in when the baby comes."
The Impala gasps slightly, but the TARDIS presses on, her chest aching and her head pounding. Blood rushes in her ears. She widens her hands, her thumbs over the Impala's cheekbones as she feels out the paths, tries to find that missing hint of her Doctor.
Dean tossed bloodied and beaten against the cool metal side of the car, Sam stands hard and gone above him. "Sam, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm not gonna leave you." And the Impala can feel it, can feel the moment when Sam's eyes soften and he regains control.
At first the TARDIS doesn't understand why her thumbs are wet, doesn't realize that she's causing the Impala pain. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she breathes as she tries again, following another path. She knows her fingers are too hard against tender flesh, know that she may as well be slicing the Impala's heart in pieces. But she holds on.
"No, Cas, you can't just magic her better!" Dean snaps as he pushes the hood up and exposes the engine. Castiel, clad in a t-shirt and jeans, smiles indulgently at Dean. "Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. You got to treat her right, and that means getting hands on."
There's a spark, a little electric feeling in her core that tells the TARDIS she's nearly got it. Her skin is alight and she can't feel in her fingertips, can't feel the Impala's skin beneath her palms. The Impala breathes hard, and she grips the TARDIS' wrists. Her grip is strong. "Don't."
"Oh no, Baby, what did they do to you?" Dean looks over his shoulder as a twig cracks and stares, dumfounded, at the man in front of him.
With a smile that's equal parts sardonic and sad, the Doctor replies, "Wait until you see what they've done to you."
The TARDIS yanks her hands away as she tries to fill her lungs with air. She can't, and her vision starts to fade. So this is dying. "2014," she gasps as the Impala grabs a hold of her and lowers her gently to the bed. "2014, after the angel Lucifer has taken Sam." She can hear the Impala, but the TARDIS can't seem to keep her eyes open. She can feel the Impala's hands through her hair and it's soothing. She thinks the Impala might be speaking, but her ears can't seem to keep up. "Baby. We found him. I just need to rest for a minute."
Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Epilogue