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(Link to the Beginning and Masterpost)
(Part One)
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“Dean! We have to go!” One of the men now sitting in the passenger’s seat of the jeep yelled out, the rest of the group already loaded and waiting for him, well, future him. “We can’t risk wasting gas!”
“I know!” The black clad Dean shouted back, not moving his aim from his target, “Head back to base, I’ve got clean up.”
“But what about-?” The future him turned his head a bit, still keeping his eyes locked unmoving from him and his trigger finger ready.
“We can’t help him. Just get back to the damn base! Make sure you aren’t followed.”
A moment of hesitation stretched before the jeep roared to life again and sped down the road, ignoring the Dean pressed up against the side of the deli as it reared around a corner and in the direction of where Dean had arrived. The cock of the gun echoed in Dean’s ears again before he turned back to himself, tensing nervously as he walked up the broken street until he was only a few feet away and backing Dean into the corner with his gun.
“Glad I caught one of you. I was hoping to have a little chat.” Dean swallowed as he recognized that tone and the look in his eyes from when he was in a more of a mood to torture and kill than figure out why there was a copy of him walking around.
“Look, I know who was in the back of that jeep and I know I wouldn’t be in my right head right now, but I have no idea why the hell I’m pointing a gun at myself.” Dean said, raising his hands up in surrender as his older self only glared at him sharper.
“He just fucking died because of you! I highly doubt mentioning him will gain you any brownie points with me!” Dean saw the tension increase in his own shoulders, his trigger finger twitching with the urge to shoot as his eyes cut into his own. He pressed himself back into the wall, honestly wondering if he really had enough issues to shoot a past version of himself.
“Dude, if you shoot me, you’re gone. I’m you, you idiot!”
“Yeah? I see a lot of me nowadays.” He paused, glancing to the side for a moment before shrugging a bit. “I admit that sounded better in my head.” His future self adjusted his grip on the m16, noticing Dean’s eyes watching the gun warily. “You’re the first Leviathan scared of a gun I’ve run across. Not going to rip out my guts like you did Sam.”
“It really was him?” Dean felt his chest clench again, watching as his older self mirrored the hurt he felt before his expression hardened again. “Damn, what happened?” The sound of a gunshot and a bullet piercing through the wall beside him shocked him as he watched the m16 adjust to aim straight for his chest. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I’m not a whatever-athan, alright! And I know it’s a touchy subject. I know!” Dean nearly sighed in relief when his trigger finger relaxed just a tick. “Death brought me here and won’t let me leave until I do some damn thing here. I was hoping getting shot wasn’t going to be one of them.”
He watched himself pause for a moment, eying him from head to toe before letting go of the gun with one bandaged hand slowly and reaching towards his belt. His older self drew a knife from the mess of ammo packs and survival gear attached to his belt, tossing it to Dean’s feet before returning his grip to his gun. He nodded downward at the knife, watching Dean with sharp eyes as he slowly bent down and picked up the rusted knife before raising his hands back in surrender to his future self.
“Cut your palm and show it to me.” The older Dean ordered, watching as Dean looked at him sceptically for a moment before placing the sharp edge of the rusted knife in the same place the bandage on his left hand was on his future self. He winced as the ridged edge bit into his hand, knowing that there was a large chance of the now bleeding cut getting infected from the unclean blade. Dean let the blood pool for a second before lifting it up for himself to see, the red liquid flowing down his wrist easily. The m16 dropped to his side, an exhale leaving both their lips as they relaxed finally.
“So Death’s teaching ‘lessons’ now, huh?” Future Dean glanced across the bridge cautiously before moving to sit down on a pile of rubble about waist high beside himself. “Good to know this might change.” He raised his eyebrows shortly as if slightly surprised at the twist in events before lifting a hand up to rub across his brow. “No offense, but now’s not a great time to sit down and talk about how the world’s gone to shit.”
“I can see that…What happened over there?” Dean motioned over to the bridge with his head, keeping his eyes trained on how he looked a lot more worn out and older here than he expected now that he wasn’t aiming a gun at something.
“Got jumped. Jackson was long gone when I told him we were heading through a hot zone. Tried to get to Dick and find some way to end this.” Dean leaned against the deli, resting his shoulder against the brick as he stared across the bridge instead of his past self. “Lost sight of Sam in the chaos then everything went quiet so I knew something was wrong. He was probably…dead when we found him. James helped me drag him back.” Dean bit the inside of his cheek, opening his mouth before closing it and opening it again. The clench in his chest still refused to ease as he swallowed around the tightness in his throat.
“What about Cas? Couldn’t you call him down to bring Sam back or something? He’s an angel. They do crap like that everyday.” He looked up from the ground to met his own eyes, shocked at the amount of grief that was in them as he watched himself stand up from sitting like the world was weighing heavy on exhausted shoulders. He pulled the heavy bag hanging from his back forward, resting the m16 on the rubble as he zipped it open and fished inside it, watching the worsening grief on his own face as he pulled a bundled up fold of cloth and threw it at Dean’s chest. Dean caught it, the worn fabric feeling familiar as he lifted it up and noticed the faded shade of beige.
“Dude, please, just shut up. You have no idea what I’ve gone through these past years and I hope you never do.”
“But…” Dean couldn’t wrap his head around it all, forcing the coat back into his older self’s hands like it would burn him if he held it any longer. It was taking all he could to lash out instead of crumbling at the thought of Sam and Castiel being gone in the future. “But we stopped the damn apocalypse. This shouldn’t have happened!”
“We stopped the apocalypse, yeah, I get it! You don’t think I’ve been telling myself that for the past three years. Saying it doesn’t change anything. Cas’s gone! Bobby’s dead! And I just loaded up my brother’s corpse into the back of that fucking jeep! You don’t think I know?!” His older self yelled loudly, suddenly throwing the beige coat he tightly held onto the ground, the wet pavement making a distressed slash before Dean watched his own face fall as if he had just shot someone who didn’t deserve it. “Damn it.” He whispered softly dropping down to the ground and carefully pulling the cloth from the thick puddle below them, swallowing the lump that was clearly stuck in his throat as he observed the polluted water that now stained the collar. Dean swallowed as well, really hoping that he wouldn’t understand the sorrow and guilt behind the mirror of his green eyes.
“You kept it. Why’d you keep it?” He asked, grasping for anything he could, for a reason he couldn’t pin.
“You wouldn’t?” Dean watched himself snort in disgust as his future self stood from kneeling on the ground, calloused hands gripping the now wet trench coat with the soft regret of tarnishing its worn surface.
“I would, but there has to be a reason why we kept it. And you know I’m not one for all that mourning sentimental crap.” His older self snorted softly in amusement, fondly turning the fabric around in his hands as he slowly squeezed the water out of it.
“Maybe because I always hoped he would come back.” He watched himself look away from the trench coat, knowing he was hiding his face for a reason. “And stay back.”
“That seems like a long enough trip, don’t you think?” Dean watched his future self’s eyes widen while looking behind him, a hand suddenly grabbing his shoulder and yanking him backward. He stumbled again, the unending blackness swallowing away 2014 as he shouted in the darkness.
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(Part Three)