Fic: What Apocalypse?- 1/3

[disturbinglynic]

Lucifer was free. The battle between heaven and hell, between brother and brother, had begun. They should be working on a way to stop him, but Cas wanted to go to some tiny town somewhere in California, because of a girl.


“Sunnydale? You want to go to a town named Sunnydale?”


“Yes, Dean.”


“What’s so special about Sunnydale?”


“Sunnydale is sitting on a hellmouth.”


Dean sighed. “Cas, I’m gonna need you to start from the beginning here.”


“This female that I spoke of, her name is Buffy. She is the slayer.”


“Slayer?”


“She is a vampire slayer. It is her birthright. She has strength beyond your own, and is extremely skilled in fighting and weaponry.”


“She sounds like my kind of girl.”


Cas gave him a pained expression. Cas was getting really good at the facial expressions. “She fights vampires and various other evil creatures. With the release of Lucifer, Sunnydale is experiencing an abnormally high level of supernatural phenomenon, including demons and creatures they have never encountered before. Particularly something claiming to be the First.”


“The first what?”


“The First. The First of all evil. The thing that even the dark fears. It is an incorporeal presence that can take the form of anyone that has died, including you, Dean. It is the personification of the concept of evil.”


“And you’re saying that all evil fears it.”


“Yes.”


“What about Lucifer?”


“He fears it as well, be he wants it under his control. Dean, we should all fear it.”


“Great, like we don’t have enough problems. So, this Buffy chick, she’s kind of like a hunter?”


“Yes, but her abilities are natural, whereas you had to learn yours.”


“You want to go to Sunnydale, so I assume there is more to this than the increase in the supernatural.”


“Yes, I believe her and her friends could help us.”


“What can they do that we can’t, and how do you even know her?”


“I met her in heaven.”


“Heaven?”


“Yes, but it was her friends that pulled her out of there. To be able to do something like that - yes, I think they can help us.”


“Why did they pull her out of heaven?”


“They believed she was in a demon dimension. So, Dean, will we go there?”


“Yeah, I think we should. If they’re that powerful, and we’re not too shabby either, then I think combining our forces would be a good thing.”


Cas smiled at him. “Thank you, Dean.”


Dean was easily convinced by Cas. He had a harder time convincing everyone else, but he managed, and now he and Sam were in the Impala with Cas, and Jo and Ellen rode in the truck with Bobby.





It was dark when they finally arrived in Sunnydale. They were meeting Buffy at her house, and they would be staying there for the duration of their stay in Sunnydale. It would be crowded, but it beat staying at yet another cheap motel. Better than that, it was free to stay at Buffy’s place. There would be a lot of people too, which would be good for Sam.


They were standing outside of the Impala now, him and Sam stretching, and Cas standing right by him, looking around, probably on the look out for any danger.


“Cas, are you sure about this?”


Cas turned to look at him, and Dean could swear that Cas looked exasperated. “Yes Dean, I am sure.”


“Well let’s go meet this Buffy then.”


They walked up to the front door, and Dean was about to knock, when the door opened.


“Oh! Perfect timing. I was just about to go on patrol, but that can wait now. Castiel, it’s so good to see you again.”


The girl, he presumed Buffy, walked up to Cas and actually gave him a hug, but what was more shocking was that Cas hugged her back. He clenched his jaw to keep it from hanging open, and balled his hands into fists at his sides. It wasn’t that he was jealous, it was just that Buffy and Cas seemed like the oldest friends in the world, yet Cas had only mentioned her when he was convincing Dean to come out here to Sunnydale.


Buffy pulled out of the embrace and turned to Dean. “And you must be Dean.” She was smiling at him, and really, she was very good looking, so he returned the smile. “I am. And this is my brother Sam, and this is Bobby, Jo, and Ellen.” He pointed to everyone as he said their names.


“I’m Buffy. Why don’t you all come inside, and you can meet everyone else.” She led them into the house, and Dean was surprised by the amount of people already there. “This is Xander, Willow, Spike, Anya, Tara, Dawn, and Giles. Guys, this is Dean, Sam, Castiel, Bobby, Jo, and Ellen.”


Everyone went around saying hi to each other. It was a huge amount of people for one house and he was beginning to regret agreeing to stay here.


“Spike, no!”


Dean whirled around to see Spike touch Cas and then pull his hand away like it had been burned.


“Bloody hell.”


“Sorry, Spike. I should have said something sooner. Castiel is an angel.”


“Angel? Where?”


“No, Xander. Angel isn’t here. Castiel is an angel.”


“Wait,” the petite red head interrupted. Willow he thought. “Are you saying that Castiel is an angel and that you met him while you were…”


She couldn’t finish that sentence. He supposed it was still a sore subject between them.


“Yes, I met Buffy while she was in heaven.”


That still didn’t explain to Dean why Spike didn’t seem able to touch him. “Cas is an angel. Great. We all got that. Now, can somebody explain to me what just happened to Spike?”


Buffy was the one who answered him. “Well, Spike is a vampire, and Castiel being an angel…”


“Spike’s a vampire? You’ve got to be kidding me.”


“I’m sorry, do you have a problem with me?” Spike was in his face now.


“Yeah, actually, I do.”


Buffy called out Spike’s name the same time that Cas called out Dean’s name. That didn’t stop Spike from punching him though, but then Spike had a hand to his own head and cried out in pain.


“Man, that was worth it.” Then Spike turned around and stalked out of the house.


“What the hell?”


Buffy sighed. “Don’t worry about Spike. I’ll explain about him later. Let’s get you and your friends settled in.”


Dean let the rest of his group get settled, but he went out to the back porch and sat down. There were too many people in the house for his liking. It was nice and quiet outside, and there was way more space.


He was outside for only a few minutes when he heard the door open behind him. It didn’t feel like Sam or Cas, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to anyone else at the moment. It was Buffy that sat down next to him. “I take it you’re not much for crowds either.”


“I’m really not. It’ll make Sam happy though.”


“Yeah, my sister, Dawn, she loves having this many people around.”


“But I guess you’re not one for crowds either.”


“Not so much these days.”


Dean could understand that. Well, not really, but if he had been ripped from heaven and had to live here again, he could see how being around people could be that much harder.


“Is it getting any easier?” Maybe he shouldn’t ask since he had only just met her, but he couldn’t help but wonder what she must be going through.


“Some days aren’t so terrible, but it’s hard. It’s really hard. I’m just going through the motions.”


“I have to ask, but you don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to. What about your friends? They’re the ones who ripped you out. How does that make you feel? How do you feel towards them?”


Buffy sighed. “It’s hard to hate them. They didn’t know. They thought I was somewhere awful. But at the same time, I think it was selfish of them. They couldn’t stand life without me so they didn’t even consider the option of me being happy. After all of the times I saved the world, and then dying to save the world, me being in heaven wasn’t really much of a reach.”


“You deserved it.”


“That I did. He talked about you, you know.”


Dean looked at Buffy, confused.


“Castiel. He talked about you while I was there.”


“Cas talked about me? Seriously?”


Buffy laughed. “Yes, he did. And quite often. He thinks very highly of you.”


Dean snorted in disbelief. “Yeah, sure he does.”


“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but he does.”


Dean didn’t say anything to that, so they just sat there for a while in silence, which was nice. Buffy was the first to break the silence. “I was going to go on patrol when you guys got here. Castiel says you’re really good at what you do. Would you like to go with me?”


“Patrol?”


“Yeah. Basically, I walk around Sunnydale, the cemeteries in particular, and see if there are any vamps or demons that need to be killed. It’s either that, or join everyone inside.”


Dean stood up. “Patrolling it is then.”


Buffy stood up next to him, and he followed her out of the yard. It was a quiet night, and they seemed to be the only two people out, in spite of the early hour.


“So, do you do this every night then?”


“Pretty much.”


“From what I understand, from what Cas was telling me, you don’t really have a choice here. You have to do this, unlike me and Sam.”


“You and Sam were raised to do this, and you don’t know any other life, and you probably couldn’t let this life go, even if you wanted to. Me, on the other hand, well I had a perfectly normal life until one day in high school I’m told that I have some sort of great destiny to fulfill. In the end, I suppose we have a similar problem. The only thing really keeping me here is I know what goes bump in the night, and I can’t just leave here and let the vampires have the run of Sunnydale. I imagine you feel the same way. You know what’s really out there, and you can’t just let monsters keep killing innocent people.”


“You seem to know an awful lot about me. Cas really did talk about me a lot, didn’t he?”


Buffy smiled at him. “I told you he did.”


“You’re right though, with what you said. I think it would be nearly impossible to live a normal life knowing what I know.”


They were walking through the cemetery now, and before Buffy could answer him, a vampire jumped out at them. Dean was all ready to help Buffy, but he stood mesmerized. Cas had been right about her. You would never guess by looking at her, but she was incredibly strong. She had great instincts and she was a skilled fighter. Dean could fight, he knew that, but he paled in comparison.


Cas appeared next to him.


“Cas, man. You were right about her. She’s incredible.”


Cas looked at him, and Dean could have sworn that Cas looked hurt. But whatever it was that had flashed across his face was gone now, so Dean wasn’t sure.


“Dean, I have some things to attend to. I’m not sure how long I’ll be.”


“Wait, you’re leaving? Cas?”


He saw Buffy kill the vampire in the background and turn towards them, and then Cas was gone.


“Where did Castiel go?” Buffy asked, walking up to him.


“I don’t know. He said he had some business to attend to.”


“Did he say when he’d be back?”


“No, he didn’t.”


Dean was staring at the spot that Cas had been standing in.


“Hey,” Buffy said, laying a hand on his arm. “Why don’t we head back to the house, yeah?”


Dean stopped staring at the space that Cas had been occupying and looked at Buffy. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do that.”





He was glad he had showered the night before because there were so many people in the house, and they were all trying to shower this morning.


He was tired and cranky. He hadn’t slept well.


Buffy and Willow were already in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone. He muttered his thanks and took a stack of pancakes to eat.


It didn’t take long for the kitchen to fill, and he noticed that Cas hadn’t shown up this morning. He hoped that Cas wouldn’t be gone for too long. He kind of liked having Cas around.


He ignored morning conversation until Sam sat down next to him. “Where did you disappear to last night?”


“I went on patrol with Buffy. You should see her fight. She’s incredible.”


“Maybe I’ll go with her tonight then.”


“Did I miss anything last night?”


“Not really. People were just getting to know each other. That’s all. Where did Cas go?”


“I don’t know. He said he had some business to attend to and then he just vanished. Do you know what the plans are for today?”


“Nope. Not a clue.”


“We’re going to the magic shop to start our research,” Buffy informed them.


“The magic shop?” Sam asked.


“Yeah. Giles owns it. It’s called The Magic Box. Anya works there too. It’s where we keep all of the books that we use to do research.”





They had been at the magic shop for a few hours doing research, when the conversation turned to their past relationships. It all started when Sam wondered where Cas was. Dean was trying to focus on the boring text in front of him, so he didn’t really think before he spoke. “Don’t know, but I wish he was here.”


Sam sighed beside him. “My brother has gone gay for an angel.”


“I have not.”


Sam snorted. “Yeah, okay.”


Xander, who was sitting next to Sam, spoke up. “It’s okay. My best friend Willow here went gay for a witch.”


Willow smiled and leaned over to kiss Tara. “I sure did.”


“I’m not gay for an angel.”


“Yes you are, Dean. It’s okay though because Castiel is in love with you.”


Dean looked at Buffy with disbelief. “Cas in love with me?” He snorted. “I seriously doubt that. There is no way Cas would fall for someone like me. Not that I have feelings for him or anything.”


“Come on, Dean. You being with an angel isn’t any stranger than me sleeping with a demon.”


“You slept with a demon? I’m marrying an ex-demon.”


At least Xander seemed happy about it instead of ashamed, which was how he knew Sam felt about what he had done.


“I also slept with a werewolf,” Sam added helpfully.


“Oh, hey! Me too.”


He was a little surprised. Willow didn’t seem the type.


“I also dated an Incan mummy girl and a giant insect.”


Dean couldn’t suppress a chuckle at Xander’s dating history, but then Buffy chimed in. “I’ve slept with two vampires.”


“Yeah, and I slept with a robot.”


He hadn’t even heard Spike come in. He must have come in through the back door.


Buffy looked at Dean. “You being in love with an angel kinda sounds better than everything we’ve done.”


Dean just stared with his mouth hanging open. Sam was laughing beside him, and Cas chose that moment to appear.


“Castiel, we were just talking about you.”


Cas looked at Buffy and tilted his head. Before anyone could say anything else, Dean spoke up. “We were just wondering where you had gone and when you’d be back.” He glared at Buffy. “Yeah, that was it, Castiel.”


“So Cas, did you accomplish whatever it was you needed to?”


“Actually, I brought another person to help.”


“Who?”


“Deano! Sammy! How the heck are you guys?”


Dean and Sam looked at each other. “Uh, Cas, what is he doing here?”


“You know Gabriel?”


“Gabriel?”


“Wait,” said Sam. “Are you telling me that this is Gabriel? As in the archangel Gabriel?”


“Got it in one, Sammy.”


Dean was pissed. The trickster that had given them hell was actually an archangel, which meant that there was nothing that he could do about it. Sam didn’t look pissed though. Actually, he was looking at Gabriel in awe, like he was the most amazing thing ever. That just pissed Dean off even more. He headed to the back room were Buffy said she had a training room. He took out his anger on the punching bag. He hadn’t been at it for long with Cas joined him.


“Dean, is there something bothering you?”


“I’m fine, Cas.” He kept punching the bag, and Cas just stood there watching him. Dean punched the bag until he felt his anger start to fade.


“Dean?”


“What is it, Cas?” he asked, not looking at him quite yet.


“How is it that you know Gabriel?”


Dean sighed and looked at Cas. “We didn’t know him as Gabriel. We knew him as a trickster. We’ve come across him twice, and the second time we did, he put us in some sort of time loop. Every day we would wake up, and every day I would die and Sam had to watch. When we demanded he stop the time loop, I lived through the day, but was killed the next. He forced Sam to live without me for six months. It was his twisted idea of a lesson for Sam.”


“You are more bothered by this than Sam is.”


It wasn’t a question. “What do you mean?”


“Sam and Gabriel are out there talking and laughing.”


“Sam forgave him? Damn it.”


“He wants to help us, Dean.”


“Are you sure he doesn’t just want to make mine and Sam’s life miserable?”


“Dean, he wants to help, and right now we could use all of the help we can.” Cas walked out of the training room to rejoin the group, leaving Dean alone again. He started beating on the punching bag again. He wasn’t very good at research anyway.



Part Two
Masterpost