22. Time Travel Gone Wrong
"There were several God-touched objects, but it never occurred to me that any of them survived the flood, let alone the twentieth century."
It didn't take long for Cas to get to the bunker. My brothers and I brought up what we found earlier through our research.
I don't understand why Cas hadn't come around sooner, but then I remember: the day he got his Grace back, his wings were shredded. They have to be too painful to use at this rate.
"Do you think we can use it against Amara?" I ask curiously.
"It's perfect. And I can get you back there."
"Without wings? Cas, you can't even teleport."
"Time travel, is a, it's a whole different system."
"Told ya!" Dean quips. I roll my eyes at him.
"So uh, these the last coordinates?" Cas peeks at a piece of paper.
"That's the Bluefin's last transmission to shore, yeah."
"Alright."
"Wait a second," Sam cuts in. "Cas, aren't there still risks with time travel? I mean aren't there consequences?"
"Sam, this is the ideal scenario," says Dean.
"What?" I find myself giving Dean the same confused look as Sam currently does now.
"That sub is a tin floating in the middle of the ocean doomed to go down, you can't really mess with history at twenty-thousand leagues. So we get in, get the weapon, get out. It's a milk run."
"Well that's not a very good plan," I say adamantly.
"Well, if things get outta hand, then Cas will just, zap me right back."
"You?"
"You and Sam aren't going."
"I beg your pardon?" asks Sam.
"Just what are you talking about, Dean?" I say, raising a suspicious eyebrow.
"You need to stay here," our older brother insists.
"Stay here?" I look at Sam, who's looking at me.
"Just in case things go sideways, somebody needs to be left standing to take care of the Darkness. We can't risk all three of us! And at the moment, I'm the least valuable player! You all know that I can't kill Amara, so the least I could do is get the thing that we need so that you can!"
Right. An earlier case—not involving Amara oddly enough, but something that made Dean see her—proved to the three of us that he, for some reason, wasn't capable of taking her on. Sam and I don't blame him for what's going on, nor do we judge him on it.
"So you expect us to sit here and ride pine while you and Cas go play Jules Verne?" asks Sam.
"Yes! No. I—who?"
"I won't let him out of my sight," Cas tells Sam and me.
"You'll stay by his side the entire time?" I ask firmly.
"I will."
"Sam, Jo, let me do this," Dean says. "Okay, I need to do this."
"You know, if we send Sam or myself with you, just not all three of us—" I try.
"No, we need the numbers stacked in our favor. This needs to just be me, with Cas getting me there."
I rotate my jaw in annoyance. "Be safe."
"When am I not?"
"Where do you want me to start on that?"
Dean hits the table. "Let's do this, Cas. Bon voyage."
When Cas touches Dean's shoulder, the two of them disappear, presumably on the submarine that holds the key to help us stop Amara.
I bite down on my thumbnail. "I'm no expert on time travel, but, things can go horribly wrong, can't they? Even if Dean thinks it can't be tampered with in a sub thousands of feet underwater."
"Things can go way wrong," Sam agrees, looking through one of the books on the library tables. "Do anything out of the original timeline, even step on a bug, and it could alter the future."
I snort. "Okay, stepping on one bug might be stretching it a little, Sammy."
"You never know, and I don't think either of us plan to."
I tense at hearing the bunker door open. I tilt my head at hearing...water? Is it a shower outside?
But as I trot into the war room, I see the water dripping off the stairs, onto the floor. And I see Cas, who look like he's drowned, clothes soaked, coming down the stairs, his shoes squishing as he moves.
"Cas?" I ask worriedly. "Why're you—wait a second, where's Dean?" I look up the stairs in hopes that I find my older brother following. He's not.
"We made the leap. He got on, I didn't."
"What?" asks Sam, as he's now behind me.
"I couldn't make it past the hull. Someone must've warded the ship."
"Okay, um, Delphine?" I ask as the three of us go back into the library. "It has to be, I mean, she's protecting the weapon, right?"
"Cas, just go back to their last port, before she boarded!" says Sam. "Leave a message so Dean knows!"
"Where? Where would Dean see it that the crew couldn't?" Cas retorts. "He's as likely to find the warding as he is any message I'd leave."
"Then send me. You got Dean past the hull. Jo can still stay here in case we somehow both end up...you know."
"Right. We'll double down on what screwed us the first time. You're really bringing you're A ideas today. I can't believe I lost it." I look at Cas strangely. It? He sighs. "Him. Can't believe I lost Dean. Well, it's up to him now to find and clear the warding."
"No. We can help," I say. "There's gotta be something in magic or angel lore. Some way to clear the sigils from the outside. Cas, don't worry. We'll bring him back." I look to my little brother. "Ready for some more research, Sam?"
We start taking books to the tables. I hand one to Cas, who looks at me like he's almost offended. I shrug and go to the book in my hands, flipping through the pages. My eyes find nothing to help our older brother out. Dean, who's currently time travelling in a sub destined to be doomed at sea.
Yeah, because there's no more pressure than normal when it comes to situations like these.
"Wait a second," says Sam. I look up from the book I'm glancing at. "I think I have something. The spell of gathering, it's an incantation used to focus power of celestial beings, angels, against all drawn forms of evasion. The spell is designed to clear all mystical or occult blockages. I mean this is highly theoretical magic, it's never been used before, but it sounds like it could work."
"And the ingredients?" asks Cas, from his chair. He seems way more focused on this idea than the book I gave to him earlier.
"Uh..." Sam's eyes skim the pages, but then he rests back in his chair, body reeking of disappointment. "All but one. That's why it's never been used before, it requires the power of an archangel."
"So that's out," I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose as Sam shuts the book.
"Well, we may as well try," Cas says thoughtfully.
"Look, Cassie, we don't have time for long shots."
"Jo's right, even at full power you're not strong enough," Sam says carefully.
"Hey, where're you going?" I watch as Sam gets up and leaves. He doesn't answer me. Cas grabs the book Sam just shut, opening it. "Okay, now what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?"
"Cas, we can't try that option," I say. "You heard Sam, we need an archangel. No offense, but that's not you." And honestly I have no idea where in the hell we'd find an archangel anyway.
"If we come back with nothing, and this is our only option, then we have to try it, unless you want Dean stuck in the past." Cas looks at me seriously. "Look, you can go off and stress like Sam, or you can help me."
"Help you try and commit suicide by performing a spell that's beyond your strength?" I give him a severe look. "I'm just looking out for you, Cas, and so is Sam. I know you've sacrificed a lot for my brothers, and myself lately, but this...at some point you got to understand your limits."
"Josette." Cas grabs my hand pleadingly. I watch him carefully. "I know my limits. If I didn't, I wouldn't consider doing this."
"See, I think you're tricking yourself into thinking that."
"Just...you go to the kitchen, grab me a bowl, and a knife to cut the ingredients with. I'll get the rest. Okay?"
I roll my tongue over my teeth. "Damn it, Cassie." I get out of the chair, but Cas still holds my hand. "You don't have to try too hard to persuade me."
"We're doing this for Dean." He kisses each knuckle. A strange gesture, considering he's never kissed my hand, ever. "You know it's right, you're willing to take the risk too."
I can't believe he's right about that. I'm freaking willing to risk my boyfriend's life to try and pull my brother back out of the past. I must be losing my mind to consider going along with this.
I weave through the bunker halls until I reach the kitchen. I grab a metal bowl and a knife, but I also make a stop at the fridge too to pull out something that's not growing limbs or trying to make an escape out of the kitchen. I keep all the items close to my chest as I leave and head back to the library.
Cas isn't there when I get there, so I munch on snack food while I wait for him.
"Are you not eating a lot, Josette?" Cas asks, brows scrunched in worry. He's got all ingredients in his arms.
I swallow my bits of food. "Just hungry."
"You don't stress-eat, do you?"
"Um...no." I give him an odd look. "This isn't because Dean's on his own, stuck in the past. Humans eat food. You'd remember that, you were human once."
Cas doesn't say anything in response; he takes the knife and begins chopping up the ingredients. I watch him, continuing to stuff my face with food. Is Cas right? Am I starting to stress-eat? But I've never done it before. It never became a habit.
"Guys, what is that?" asks Sam. I turn my head to see him enter the library.
"It's your spell of gathering," Cas replies.
"You nuts?" My little brother looks at me. "You didn't think to stop him?"
I shrug. "Unless you got a better plan."
"You're not strong enough, Cas, you could get hurt!"
"You find a better option?" Cas asks.
"Well, no, but...without a serious boost to your angel power, that spell won't even work!"
"My strength may surprise you."
"Wait a second. I remember Bobby told me when you needed strength to retrieve us from the past, you used him to power up. You touched his soul, right?"
I guess it's not so shocking that my brothers have time-travelled before now. We've done a lot of weird shit. I guess that comes with our last name.
"That's right, I did that," Cas agrees. "But that procedure can be fatal."
"Use my soul. That way maybe you'll have enough power to wield the spell."
"That isn't necessary."
"It's work the risk. Cas, Dean needs our help."
"And hey, if Sam's not enough juice, I'm willing to lend my soul too," I speak up. Provided it doesn't hurt like a bitch. "We trust you."
Cas smiles, but then he starts to...laugh?
"Uh, Cas?" I ask cautiously. "W-what's so funny?"
"Oh, it's just—I don't need you anymore. I mean, Dean's the one with the link to Amara, why have I been trying to spare you? I mean maybe it's because you're like the girl who kept turning me down at the prom."
"Sam!" I scream as Cas grabs my little brother, shoving him into one of the support columns of the bunker.
"I will touch your soul," Cas continues. I pick up on his voice. It sounds...different. No gruff edge like there always is. Something's off. "Just because you asked so nicely, and I'll use your spell to blast through the warding and retrieve Dean and the uh, Hand of God, and then when Dean comes back and he finds this place decorated with your guts—and Jo-Jo's, because you can be sure I'll use her soul too—I will tell him the truth, Sam. I'll just say, 'Dean'—" There's a momentary pause. "'Dean...they knew the risks. They wouldn't take no for an answer.'"
"Oh, my God," I stammer. Even though I know the first thing I should be doing is attacking, I can't. Because if I do, I'll attack Cas's body. Cas isn't in there. Someone else is riding in his body. And I know just who it is too. "Lucifer."
"In the flesh."
I lunge for Lucifer the second I hear my little brother scream in pain as his soul is touched. I grab him from behind, pulling him away from Sam. We go rolling onto the ground, until he's over me. Though I'm looking at Cas's face, it's not Cas who I'm wrestling with.
"You son of a bitch," I hiss. "What did you do to him? What did you do to him?"
"I'm really sorry about this, Jo-Jo. I really am."
I scream so loud our eardrums should shatter. I can feel his fingers digging into my soul, through my chest. I want to fight him off, but the pain is so blinding that I can't think to swat him away. What made Cas let him in?
I convulse, gasping in pain, as Lucifer is pulled off of me. I roll onto my side, putting a hand on my chest, where Lucifer tried to grab, watching as Sam diverts Lucifer away from me.
I crawl as Lucifer grabs hold of Sam's soul again, leaving my brother's screams to echo in the bunker.
But something changes. Lucifer suddenly lets go of Sam. My little brother slumps unconscious to the floor, where I now crawl hurriedly to him. I hover over him protectively, watching Lucifer with a severe, predatory glare. He's not focused on me but his hand. I wince, hearing some awful ringing in my ears.
I look at Lucifer. There's a strained expression on his face.
"Hello, Castiel."
**[anchors readers to the floor] I got you, guys. I got you. Just hold on.**