Song Remains the Same

Chapter 93: Revelation

"I wore your promise on my finger for one year. I'll wear your name on my heart til I die."
- Coco J. Ginger

In the back seat of the Impala behind Dean, Alex sat in utter silence and tried to comprehend what was currently happening. In the front seat sat a man who looked like Castiel and very well might be him. It had her completely wrecked inside, but somehow she was holding it together for now after that brief breakdown a few minutes prior. She searched his appearance for proof that it was him or that it wasn't him as she fought through a million conflicted feelings about what it would mean if it were Castiel sitting there within arms reach. It meant he didn't remember her. It meant he'd married another woman. It meant she'd mourned his death all that time in vain. It meant her world no longer made any sense at all.

Her eyes constantly went to the back of Emmanuel's head and his profile as she studied him closely. It was all so familiar: his strong nose, the fierce brow, his sharp jawline, those beloved shaggy curls behind his ears, the slightly stern and thoughtful expression on his face... it looked just like him. And more than that he felt familiar. His presence and demeanor and the way he moved—he looked just like Cas, save for the outfit he wore. It made her chest ache so hard that she could have had heartburn.

All of three minutes into the seventeen hour trip they were embarking on, the Impala merged onto a rural highway and Dean cleared his throat and threw a hooded glance at the Cas lookalike. "So, Daphne—your wife," he began cautiously, trying to sound casual and polite. "How'd you two meet, huh?"

Alex's stomach, which had just settled, suddenly began to churn again. She tried to look like she wasn't paying attention, but every atom of her body was suddenly put into straining to hear his answer. She knew what Dean was doing. Rooting around for answers and clues as to who this guy was and where he'd come from—try and find out if he really were Cas.

Alex noticed out of the corner of her eye how Emmanuel looked a little grudging to discuss the answer to Dean's question. "She found me and cared for me," he answered vaguely, looking out of the window, maybe trying to silently say he didn't feel in the mood to talk.

Too bad. Dean had a comeback ready. "Found you and cared for you?" he repeated. "What, like a stray dog?"

Emmanuel turned his head toward Dean, picking up on the cynical tone and appearing all the more hesitant for it. "It's a... strange story," he said faintly. "You may not like it." He sounded reluctant. His nearly guilty eyes glanced sidelong and back at Alex, who was caught already looking at him. Her eyes quickly darted away as her pulse hammered so hard she had to breathe in deeply to not feel faint.

"Oh believe me, I'll love it," Dean replied, not really succeeding in hiding his more bitter feelings. At the ensuing silence, he pressed. "What, you don't wanna say or something?"

Emmanuel glanced at Dean a couple more times, then towards Alex. He inhaled. "A few months ago in Kansas, she was hiking by some water." Kansas. Water. The lake. Those details matched up with what had happened. Alex was on the edge of her seat, breathless, sick, confounded. "She found me at the shoreline, drenched and confused, and..." he grew visibly uncomfortable, his eyes darting to Alex's, "unclothed." Alex was immediately all the more distressed. She'd had this crazy, farfetched, wild hope that maybe their 'marriage' was sexless. But that revelation made her realize that she was ridiculous and juvenile to think that for a second. Emmanuel was still explaining his first encounter with Daphne. "I had no memory. I still don't." He attempted to sound less uncertain. "She said... God wanted her to find me."

"God?" Dean repeated incredulously, like Emmanuel was a real chump for believing anything of the sort. "And you bought that crap?"

Emmanuel didn't appear to know what to do or how to respond to the very blunt question. He didn't really answer the question at all when he spoke up. "Well... she seemed very certain of what she believed."