Blaze of Glory

Tortured Soul

Psssstttt, this first part is from Future!Dean's perspective and the second from 2009!Dean's perspective, in case I don't make that obvious enough. 

Dean was rubbing his hands together, looking up at the cloud of smoke in the air. His past-self was surely around here somewhere, annoying everyone with his optimism. Dean wondered how it was possible that someone like that could possibly be him. After all, Dean was far more...dark. And grumpy. Or, at least, that's what he assumed Castiel would say. He was always calling Dean grumpy, even when Dean wasn't even being that intolerable. Dean was, in his mind, a pleasure to be around. 

"Look, I did what I could. Everyone is arguably alright," Kevin said as he walked up to Dean. "Well, at least, no one is going to die immediately. When are the angels going to get here? We have a couple of wounds they could..." Kevin was cut off by the abrupt appearance of Castiel. Dean's heart fluttered for a moment until he realized it was past Castiel. So, not the one that he wanted to see. Not the one that he loved. 

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, looking up from where he was kneeling down by Charlie and surveying her wound. Past-Castiel frowned. 

"Your lover sent me back here," Past-Castiel grumbled. 

"Cas?" Past-Dean said as he walked out of the crowd. 

"Hello, Dean," Past-Castiel said plainly. Past-Dean laughed and pulled Past-Castiel into a hug. 

"I'm glad you're here," Past-Dean mumbled. Past-Castiel smiled and hugged him back. 

"Uh, since you're here, could you heal some of the people?" Kevin asked. Past-Castiel smiled and nodded. 

"Of course," Past-Castiel said. He moved to Charlie's side, and Dean turned away. He was sure the angel was going to do what needed to be done. He could always trust Castiel, future, past or present to do what needed to be done. That was probably why he was so afraid for him at the moment. 

It was only moments later that the bright light erupted into the sky, followed by a blood-curdling scream. Nothing was going to keep Dean from investigating the noise. He ran toward the noise, ignoring the harsh acidic burning from the smoke and the tears that filled his eyes from the burning. He stumbled into a clearing in the smoke to see Lucifer laying on the ground by the lifeless body of Chuck. 

"Is Lucifer..." Dean started. 

"He's fine. He just started glowing....you think Amara was serious about him taking over Heaven. Like, as in he's gonna get Chuck's powers or whatever?" Gabriel asked. He was on his knees, by Alfie, who was covered in blood. 

"I don't know. You okay, kid?" Dean asked Alfie. Alfie gave a weak smile and a nod. Dean was pretty sure it was the first time he had seen the Weiner Hut uniform-clad angel smile. He turned his attention to Castiel. His Castiel. He was standing still, staring at Chuck. He looked a bit pale, but so would most people if they had just killed God. 

"Hey," Dean said, crossing the clearing to pull Castiel to his body. Castiel went limp in his arms, and Dean squeezed him tightly. 

"Dean," Castiel said softly, pulling away enough to look at the hunter. Dean grabbed Castiel's chin and kissed him on the lips. 

"I love you. I don't think I'll ever say it enough to make up for all the times I didn't say it before, but I love you," Dean spit out. He figured maybe he should take his past self's advice. Maybe he had a shot at a happy middle. 

"Don't say that," Castiel said sadly, looking at the floor. Dean frowned. That's not how this was supposed to go. 

"But it's true, I do..." Dean started. His voice died in his throat when Castiel pushed his trench-coat, the ratty old equivalent to the one that past-Castiel was wearing, to the side. He had a soft smile on his lips as Dean's eyes traveled down his body to the wound in his stomach. It was glowing and not bleeding. It didn't even really look like a wound. It was just a large cut that didn't bleed, didn't do much of anything but glow. "What happened? I need to get Gabriel over here, he can..."