Aren't You A Little Young To Be Building An Interdimensional Portal?

Chapter 14

"I think that's it," Dean says. "But that's what we've said about, like, 20 other universes, so we'll see, I guess."

"Go ahead, check it out," Phineas says. "We'll be here if it isn't."

So Sam and Dean head through the long line of portals that only takes a single step. These portals are so close together, they might as well be occupying the same space.

Dean looks around. It's hard to tell whether they're home. Sure, everything finally looks like it's in the right color pallet, but that doesn't mean too much. There's only one way to find out. Dean pulls out his cellphone, which is just about dead after all this.

"Dude!" Dean smacks Sam on the shoulder excitedly. "I've got a signal!"

"Call Cas," Sam says quickly. "See if this is our world."

So that's what he does. He's been anxious about speaking to the angle before, usually after something relationship-shattering occurs, but now he's anxious for a whole different reason. He knows Castiel won't be mad at him, which is a rare occurrence because they always seem to be fighting about something, but what if this isn't his dimension? What if this phone number belongs to someone else? What if it belongs to a Castiel who knows a different set of Winchesters? So much could go wrong.

"Dean?"

He breathes a sigh of relief when he hears that voice coming through the speaker. "Cas, thank god."

"Dean, where are you?" Castiel asks. "I've been trying to call you for hours."

"I don't know," Dean admits. The best he's got is outside.

"Cas, what was the last you heard from us?" Sam asks.

"Just that you were looking for Jack," Castiel says. "I tried calling you for an update, and you wouldn't answer."

"We did it," Dean says, amazed. "We made it back."

"I can't believe it," Sam says.

"What is happening right now?" Castiel asks.

"We gotta go," Dean says. "Cas, buddy, I've never been so relieved to hear your voice."

"What?"

"See you in a few," Dean says before hanging up. He only has so much battery left, and he's not wasting it all now. They may have found the right universe, but they still have to get home.

"Do you want to go back and ask if we can have the blueprints?" Sam asks. "We can go find Jack and Mom and Kaia..."

"We might as well," Dean says. "It would have been a hell of a lot easier to have Jack pull Mom back, but this is just about the easiest Plan B we've ever had."

"Alright, let's go."

They step back through the portals, where everyone is still waiting anxiously to see if it worked. When they come back, everyone deflates, obviously expecting this to be the wrong universe.

"Thanks, Phineas," Sam says. "You did it."

"You made it home?" Phineas beams. "That's awesome!"

"Do you think we can take the blueprints with us?" Dean asks. "We still have a different alternate dimension to get to."

"Maybe a few of 'em," Sam adds. They have no idea where Jack and Kaia would have ended up.

"Wanna just take the whole machine?" Phineas asks.

"Can we do that?" Sam asks.

Phineas looks to Ferb as if waiting for an objection, but Ferb just shrugs, so Phineas says, "Yeah, sure. We still have a lot to do in this dimension before we move on to a different one, anyway."

Sam chuckles. "Thanks, kid. We owe you one."

"No way," Phineas says. "This is one of the coolest things that's ever happened to us."

"It says a lot about you guys that this is only one of the coolest," Dean remarks. "Alright, take care, guys. Never stop building."

"Don't worry, we won't," Phineas says. "There's 104 days of summer vacation, and we're gonna make the most of every one."

"Though it does feel like it's been a lot longer than 104 days," Ferb says.

"Yes, yes it does," Phineas agrees.

"See ya later," Dean says. "Except, you know, hopefully we won't have to."

Sam and Dean both take hold of one side of the machine, and together, they pull both the portal maker and the remote through the portals and into their dimension. They turn back around and wave through the dimensional gateway, and everyone crowds in and waves back. With the press of a button, the portal closes, and they're tucked safely back in their dimension.

"Wait a second," Dean says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"I know that store," Dean says. "That's, like, a two minutes drive from the bunker."

Sam looks around. "You're right. We're practically home already."

"Well, let's go," Dean says. "We gotta get this thing home. They're still out there somewhere."

"Not for long," Sam says, and for the first time in a long time, there's hope.