Peace [Destiel]

III - Empty

Chapter Three - Empty

Dean realized it was mildly stupid to dive headfirst at a wall, but he was too preoccupied with saving Cas. If he hit his head, then so be it. Luckily the entrance to the Empty stayed open long enough for Dean not to get a concussion.

You're avoiding it... Dean's subconscious said to him.

No I am no- Dean's other voice tried to defend. Let's- let's just save Cas first, okay?

Dean groaned as the adrenaline faded away and realized he was flat on the ground. He looked around, hoping desperately he had gotten through to the Empty, and not just missed.

We already covered that we made it in, Dean.

He got up slowly and brushed the thought away. He had to save Cas first, but the angel's confession was still in his head. Did he mean it? And was that in the way that Dean wanted it to be?

What is the way I want him to mean it? Dean had to ask himself.

He looked around, recalling how Cas had described the Empty when he had come back from it, dark and well empty. But as he looked around, expecting nothing, he was surprised to find that it looked quite different. It looked like hell.

Cells with people in them lined the hall Dean had found himself in, but there seemed to be no doors. He looked at the person- the being- that was in the "cell". They were unconscious but they seemed to be crying. He started to walk away and looked at each person, hoping Cas would be there, yet he prayed he wouldn't. Each person, every single one, was crying, some screaming.

"Help!" a raspy voice begged. Dean turned to find an unfamiliar woman, who then morphed into Raphael, the archangel Cas had waged war against. "Winchester?" the voice questioned, and got up from the bed they were on. Raphael ran towards Dean, who instinctively took a step back to the side. The archangel crashed into what seemed to be a barrier, not that any was visible to Dean. Raphael looked desperately at Dean. "Get me out of here, please!" he begged.

Dean walked away, remembering how the archangel had treated Cas and had tried to kill him multiple times, leaving Raphael to his fate. As he passed the cells he saw many familiar faces, many changing. Dean began to realize that the changing faces were just different vessels each creature had possessed.

He saw some wake and after begging and pleading, quickly passed out again. Dean started getting tired, they hadn't gotten much sleep since Chuck had gone dark side, and since Billie had almost crushed his heart, he was more tired than usual, but he fought it off. He had to find his angel. He had to find Cas.

He turned a corner in the maze of cells and looked at a girl, quickly moving on when he saw it wasn't Cas, but quickly turned back to look at her. Jess. Jessica Moore, Sam's girlfriend from Stanford. What was she doing here? He looked at her confused until her face shifted into a familiar blonde.

He paused hoping it wouldn't be true but when her face shifted to that familiar brunette, and his hopes crashed. Ruby. Ruby had tricked Sam from the start, or had used Jess at some point. Dean tore his eyes away from the demon and walked away. He could worry about Ruby and Jess later, but now he needed to find Cas. He walked away but every step became harder. He felt heavier with every breath and his eyesight began to blur and thoughts began to fade.

Dean fell to his knees, only thinking of Cas, desperately fighting the exhaustion that was taking him. As his consciousness fell away, he thought about his angel.

"Everything you have ever done, the good and the bad, you have done for love. You raised your little brother for love. You fought for this whole world for love. That is who you are. You're the most caring man on Earth. You are the most selfless, loving human being I will ever know. You know, ever since we met and ever since I pulled you out of Hell, knowing you has changed me. Because you cared, I cared. I cared about you. I cared about Sam. I cared about Jack. I cared about the whole world because of you. You changed me, Dean."

"Why does this sound like a goodbye?" Dean asked. Cas, crying, looked over at his hunter.

"Because it is. I love you."

"Don't do this, Cas." The Empty began to appear on the wall behind Dean. Dean looked over his shoulder, tears forming in his eyes, but Cas still looked at Dean. Billie burst through the door. "Cas," Dean said, worried.

Cas laid his bloody hand on Dean's shoulder, the one he had left a mark on all those years ago. "Goodbye, Dean." The angel threw Dean across the room. Dean looked at Cas upset, but Cas only looked happy, happy that he had finally told Dean and that he could save his hunter. The Empty reached towards Castiel, but also grabbed Billie. It pulled them both in.

The entrance to the Empty closed and Dean laid on the floor, in shock. As everything hit him, he sat up and buried his head in his hands. He heard his phone ring but he ignored it. After an eternity, he finally got up and looked at the phone. He got into Baby and went to meet Sam and Jack. "Where's Cas?" Jack asked.

Dean reluctantly answered and sadly they all walked away, leaving space for the angel that wasn't there. They headed off to try and bring back everyone that Chuck had made disappear. Soon enough they found Michael, who said he could help them.

They all headed to the bunker to try and find a way to defeat Chuck. Well Sam, Jack, and Michael did. Dean was looking at the footage of the dungeon and was watching Cas' confession, surrounded by beer bottles. He carved Castiel into the table, next to his name. A phone rang, and Dean answered it. "Dean, I need you to let me in. I'm hurt."

"Cas!" Dean ran up the stairs to the entrance to the bunker as fast as he could. He opened the door and found Lucifer. He tried to shut the door as quickly as possible, but the Devil managed to force his way inside.

"Sorry I had to raise your hopes like that," Lucifer said. "But you wouldn't have let me in otherwise."

"Of course we wouldn't have!" They argued with him until he mentioned that he had a gift. He brought in a woman, who he mentioned was a reaper. He stabbed her and reminded them that when you kill a reaper, and there is no current Death, they will become the new Death and then she could read the God book. Once she opened the book, he killed her, again. "What?!" they all exclaimed. Lucifer then explained that God had brought him back from the Empty to help him. Michael then attacked Lucifer and they both began to fight. Michael won out in the end and killed Lucifer again.

After the fight, Michael walked away, deep in thought. Dean follows him, while Sam works on translating God's book into something they can read. Dean asks if Michael was upset about Chuck choosing Lucifer over him. While Michael says he wasn't, Dean becomes suspicious and he, Sam, and Jack made a plan to dee if Michael was truly trustworthy.

They all went off to the location where Sam told Michael they had to fight Chuck. When Chuck showed up, they knew that they couldn't trust him, though luckily they had prepared for that. Michael soon started boasting about being God's most loyal soldier, but Chuck told him that he couldn't stand the fact that, for a short period of time, Michael had sided with the Winchesters, and killed him. He soon started to beat both the brothers up but Jack soon, after absorbing all his power, defeated Chuck and they left him stranded.

After going back into the town, Jack brought back everyone and told them that he couldn't come back to the bunker with them and that he wouldn't see them for a while, maybe a long time, and then he left. Dean got back to the bunker and he found that the only thing on his mind was Cas. It hit him that the angel had confessed to loving Dean and all Dean wanted in the moment was to get his angel back and to tell him that he loved him.

I love him. I love Cas. I love-

"Dean," a faint voice said. "Dean." The voice got louder. "Dean!" Dean shot up, the horrible... nightmare fading, seeming not as reality but as a horrifying thought. A horrible possibility, and at that moment he decided he would never let any of that happen. "Dean!" He looked at the person who was screaming at him. His eyes widened.

"Crowley?"