Lankeer 3/5
Dean frowned. "'Things changed'? What do you mean, 'things changed'?"
Cas frowned at him over his shoulder. "Is something wrong with your hearing, Dean? I said exactly what I meant. I found something that changed everything." He turned back to the controls as Sam went to the copilot's chair and Dean sat behind Cas, who completely missed the look of shock that passed between them as they strapped in.
Cas was asking about Dean's hearing -- when Dean and Sam both were worried about HIS hearing.
There was some kind of poetic irony in that, Dean thought, shaking his head in amusement.
"Where are we going?" Sam asked, one eye on the readout that automatically mapped and plotted courses for the autopilot.
Cas nodded toward the display, not taking his eyes from his own instruments except to glance at the viewscreen to visually check his position. "On the other side of those hills. We're still high enough that we won't be easily seen by any of the local popul-- oh, you have got to be kidding me."
Sam let out a chuckle. "No, it ain't kidding you."
"What?" Dean snarled, feeling blind since he couldn't see the instruments for himself.
"The autopilot came on," Sam informed him as Cas fought with the MaryJohn's controls. "It apparently didn't like that Cas is doing the flying himself."
"....swear, this thing hates me," Cas growled and it was obvious that he hadn't intended to be heard. ".....gonna rip its guts out and have Dean rebuild it as a toaster...."
Dean snickered softly at that image.
"There!" Sam cried out suddenly. "Autopilot disengaged!"
Dean felt the shift -- the MaryJohn suddenly flew a little straighter, the winds in the atmosphere being better compensated for. "Wow, it feels a lot different when you're flying her!"
"At least in atmosphere," Cas said, tilting his head in that strange manner he still sometimes did when he was concentrating intently.
"I get it," Sam said, turning to smile at Cas. "The autopilot was programmed to fly in vacuum."
Dean nodded, suddenly getting it as well. "And Cas, here, has flown most of his life in atmosphere. Technology versus being created with actual wings and knowing how to use them."
"Okay, this ain't gonna cut it," Cas suddenly said, showing just how close of quarters the brothers now shared. "You two, shield your eyes. It's about to get very bright in here." With that, he reached over his head, and shut off the viewscreen completely.
"Cas?" Sam questioned, frowning.
Cas just smiled at him for a second, then began pressing a series of buttons. There was a low rumble, and then three partitions began to raise. One was at the front of the bridge, and one was on either side of it.
Dean gasped as natural sunlight flooded the MaryJohn's bridge. "Windows and a windshield?"
"Windows and a windshield," Cas replied. "Not very practical in the vacuum, but absolutely essential to see where you're going when you're traveling in atmosphere. Or when you're landing." He gestured to a small valley between two jagged peaks. "We're putting down there."
"Is that a river?" Sam asked, leaning forward for a better look.
Cas nodded. "I think so. Which is going to be very helpful. We can store some water while we're here, and...." A sudden sound made him turn his head slightly. "Uh... Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Check on Dean, please."
Realising that Cas needed to focus on landing them safely, Sam turned in his chair to face his older brother. He nodded slightly, unable to keep the fond smile from his lips.
Dean had curled slightly in on himself, as best as the restraints would allow. His face was buried in his hands and slight but persistent tremours wracked his frame.
Now that they could see where they were going, Dean's fear of flight had returned with a vengeance. "He'll be fine once we're on the ground," Sam said, turning back around and already plotting mild sedatives to administer on their return trip through the atmosphere.
Vacuum didn't bother Dean, because there was no "high" in space. There was no "up" or "down" or "falling out of the sky". Those things only existed on worlds, so traveling in vacuum didn't trip Dean's persistent fear of flying.
Traveling in atmosphere, however, was entirely another story.
"How soon is that gonna be?" Dean groaned into his palms.
"Till we're on the ground?" Sam asked and at the bent head's jerky nod, he waited for Cas to answer that.
But Cas didn't seem to have heard the question. "Cas?" Sam asked him. "How soon till we're on the ground?"
"About ten minutes," Cas replied. "I'm slowing us down now."
Exactly twelve minutes later, the MaryJohn landed with a soft sigh in the small valley, beside the river.
Exactly thirty seconds after that, Dean lost the battle with nausea he'd been fighting since the windows had opened.
As he recovered from that, Dean looked blearily up at Cas, who had brought him some water while Sam took care of the mess. "Hey, Cas?" Dean asked in between sips of water. "You never did tell us what you saw that made you land so quick."
"I found what almost hit us in the vacuum," Cas informed them. "And it's nothing natural."
"Nothing natural?" Sam asked, frowning. "What does that mean?"
"Our kind of job?" Dean asked, eyes narrowing. "Out here?"
Cas blinked. "No! Well.. maybe, but it's too soon to tell. I mean that it's not a natural rock formation like an asteroid or a meteor or.... or a plain old rock. I mean that it's something that's been made."
"Like a ship?" Sam and Dean asked in unison.
"Exactly like a ship." Cas frowned slightly as Dean stood up and walked over to him with the last syringe. "What's that?"
"The translator." He pushed up the arm of Cas's bright blue t-shirt.
Cas shook his head. "It is not necessary, Dean. I told you, I was an angel. I should still have access to the languages I spoke when I was-- OW!"
Dean smiled at the look of combined shock, betrayal and slight pain Cas turned on him -- the same look he'd seen on Sam's face when he'd trick the little boy into having his vaccinations. "All done," he said in the same tone he'd used with his brother back then. He rubbed the spot with the heel of his hand to encourage the tiny translator to be on its way, and at the glare Cas shot him he asked in the same tone, "You were a very good boy. You want a milkshake?"
Sam barked a laugh at hearing the same words in the same tone turned on someone else.
"We'll call it a rain check," Cas growled, standing up and clamping one hand over his wound. "For now, let's focus on finding out what that ship is and why it's here."
"What it wants on Lankeer," Sam nodded, shooting a glare at Dean when he snickered. "What?"
"You two just rhymed."
"Oh, for the love of--" Sam threw up his hands and followed Cas off the bridge.
Laughing, Dean followed. Any day he didn't irritate his little brothers was a day wasted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
This was the part of their new job that Dean completely and utterly hated.
All banter and teasing was long forgotten, now, as he watched his youngest brother -- the one that was there by choice instead of by birth -- strip off his shirt and strap on a pair of holsters. One held a gun and the other a knife. "Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?"
"The ship makes too much noise this close to the ground," Cas said calmly, keying in the sequence that would lower the MaryJohn's main ramp. "And we don't want to risk all of us going in with the Impala until we know a little more about what we're facing instead of just 'it's a ship'."
Dean sighed, unable to keep the slight scowl from his lips and helpless to stop the twitching of the muscle along his jawline.
Sam curled a hand over his shoulder. "Dean -- we know you'd take his place if you could."
"Doesn't make it any easier," Dean growled. "Don't like sendin' either one of you out into the unknown all alone."
Cas smiled at him. "I'll be careful, Dean. I always am."
"That ain't the point, Cas."
The smile faltered. "I know."
After a long moment, Dean raised his chin. "Be safe."
"As I can be." Cas turned to face the landscape stretching out beyond the hatch. He walked down the ramp and they all saw him take a huge breath.
Then another. His shoulders rolled.
Another. His head rolled, now, taking some of the tension out of his neck.
Then, Cas's shoulders snapped back and then forward like he had been hit. At the same instant, his wings unfurled from their hidden nubs, reaching for the horizon on each side of him.
Dean and Sam's breath caught at the sight, as they always did.
Cas's wings were huge -- easily a twelve-foot wingspan. They were light grey with darker grey and white stripes that gave them the appearance of actual birds' wings.
They had been pure white, once, Cas had told them. Back before he'd chosen to become what he now was -- more human than angel. The wings had altered colour to reflect his new self. They could also now be seen with human eyes in safety.
But they were still as functional as they ever were. Dean and Sam watched as they beat slowly, exercising just a second, before Cas crouched down and the wings stilled, curled against his back and down onto his hips and thighs.
Then, with one powerful stroke of the wings and straightening of Cas's legs, the booted feet left the ground.
Cas was airborne.
They watched him vanish over the lip of the valley and Sam squeezed Dean's shoulder. "C'mon. Let's get the Impala ready to roll."
"Yeah," Dean said, still staring after Cas.
"He'll be fine."
"I know. It's just that...."
"Yeah, I know. He's a Winchester, now. He's family. And you hate to send family out without backup."
"Yeah," Dean sighed miserably.
"Which is the entire reason he didn't go without backup this time."
Dean frowned and turned to look at Sam. "What?"
Sam grinned and held up his left wrist. On it was a very familiar device -- one Dean had been tinkering with for weeks.
Dean felt his eyes go huge. "I didn't even think of that."
"We tested them out while you were sleeping off your translator miniaturisation migraine. They work."
Dean grinned. "Of course they work. I designed them."
Sam laughed. "C'mon, Mechanical Man, let's get ready to roll."
As Dean followed, he asked, "Hey, Sammy? You did remember to get the third one of those wrist-radios, didn't you?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
General Ferri was at her desk doing paperwork when a knock sounded on her door. She looked up and smiled. "Enter, Ateno. What can I do for you?"
Ateno, her second in command, smiled as he walked in. "Well, there is always the offer of dinner...."
"Ateno," she chided. It was an old argument that now had the flavour of a gentle tease between friends.
He laughed slightly then sobered. "All seriousness, General. Patrols have spotted something odd in the sky over the outlands."
"Odd like how?"
"Odd like a flying man."
Ferri frowned deeply. She finished the paper she was working on swiftly and all but slammed her pen back into its holder. "What exactly are they seeing and where exactly are they seeing it?"
Ateno nodded as she stood and grabbed her jacket. He closed the door behind them and led her down the hallway. "As I said, in the outlands. To the west of Thebes-Mut."
Ferri hummed as she pondered this. "Very well, then take me to the monitoring station. Because, Ateno -- flying men do not exist. They can not exist."
"What if it does exist? What then?"
She whirled onto Ateno and her glare seared him like fire. "A flying man? A Ba-bird?"
Ateno's eyes narrowed. "A soul-demon? There are other explanations for a man in flight. A flight-pack. Mechanical wings."
Ferri smiled, her anger tempered by his logical words. "Then we shall assume it is that."
"What else can it be?" Ateno shrugged. "People can not have wings like birds."
"No. That would make them Ba-birds. Or worse -- freaks of nature. Abominations."
They walked into the monitoring station and someone yelled, "General on the premises!" The entire room shot to their feet.
Ferri laughed. "Stand down, people. Captain."
"General," the head of the monitoring station told her.
"I hear you've found something strange."
"Yes, ma'am. Right this way." She turned to the monitors. "Corvan, bring up the tape for the outlands west of Thebes-Mut."
"Yes, Captain Tujon." The named technician pulled up the footage.
Ferri frowned. "There is nothing there."
"This is a loop, ma'am. Watch, here." Corvan put a finger on an area of the screen.
Nodding, Ferri watched the indicated area.
They had all seen birds fly in front of the screen before, and when the wings came into view Ferri thought for a moment it was another bird, though one with strangely coloured plumage. But then the wings canted and the figure banked, and she gasped as a slim man wearing dark blue leggings of some type of coarsely-woven fabric and black boots was revealed to be attached to the wings. The wind seemed to ruffle his dark curly hair like a pair of gentle lover's hands as he soared.
Ferri's eyes narrowed.
"Well," Ateno murmured. "Not a pair of mechanical wings."
"He is armed," Corvan pointed out. "He carries a pistol and a knife."
Ferri ordered Corvan to print out a still picture of the flying man. Once she had it in her hands, she moved to a strong light source and studied it closely.
Ateno followed her. "Well?"
"Well, it is definitely not a Ba-bird."
"And you can tell this how?"
She tapped the photograph. "He is smiling. Ba-birds do not smile, do not enjoy their flight. He is clearly enjoying himself. He clearly enjoys flying."
Ateno was silent for a long moment, then he turned to her. "Then what is he?"
There was not one second of hesitation. "He is an abomination. And he will be treated as such." She spun on her heel and headed out of the room.
Ateno stared at the picture for a long moment, feeling a ribbon of ice slither down his spine like a serpent.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cas soared over the city and headed back toward the MaryJohn. He had seen a city very reminiscent of both New York and Cairo. He had seen a population nervous and on edge.
He had waved at a little boy who had spotted him and had waved back with a huge grin on his face.
Cas grinned as he glided over the long desert. He glanced down and saw the Impala cruising below him.
Suddenly the Impala's running lights blinked twice in rapid succession. Laughing, Cas banked left and right -- waggling his wings as if waving at them.
The Winchesters had seen each other.
Cas banked again, coming around for another pass and falling into position over the Impala. He guided it toward the city, keeping his brothers from getting lost.
His wrist radio crackled. "So tell me," Dean cracked, "how many hot chicks did you see?"
Laughing, Cas put his wrist to his mouth and spoke into the radio. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
He could hear Sam laughing, which made his own grin grow.
"Ass," Dean shot back. "What did you see?"
"A recogniseable city. I saw a child. There's some cars, there's some flying machines....I'd say that we could blend in well once I join you and hide my wings again."
"Hey, Cas, meet us over the ridge over there," Sam put in. "I think we can join up there in privacy and I have your jacket and shirts."
"Thanks, Sam. I appreciate it. Do you mean the ridge that looks like a woman's profile?"
"Yeah, I noticed that," Dean said. "Looks like a woman's --"
"Yeah, Cas, that's the one," Sam interrupted, with a slight laugh. "Ten minutes?"
"Ten minutes," Cas agreed and banked again, sliding a little ahead of the Impala and gliding toward the indicated ridge.
Inside the Impala, Sam rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh as he glanced over at Dean.
"What?" Dean asked with a grin, scanning the sky and nodding in satisfaction when he saw Cas glide in front of them, heading for the ridge where they would reunite.
"Just glad that, no matter what, some things don't ever change," Sam grinned.
Dean shook his head, chuckling. Then the smile dropped off his face as a small flying machine glided over the horizon. "Hey.....Sam?"
"I see it," Sam said, lifting his wrist. "Hey, Cas? Bogie at four o'clock."
"I see it," Cas replied. "I'm going to check it over." He began a turn that would take him closer to the machine.
Dean saw the sunlight glint off a piece of metal that wasn't there ten seconds before. "Cas!" he screamed into the radio. "Evasive! Now!"
They watched Cas suddenly shift position again, going higher as if to get above the danger
They watched the craft discharge one single shot.
They screamed denials in unison as they helplessly watched their former-angel brother topple from the sky, his right wing a mass of smoking feathers.
On to Part Four