The Path We Choose- (18/?)
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tenoko1Title: The Path We Choose
Author: Tenoko1
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Takes place after Season five with references through Season seven
Pairings: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Sarah
Disclaimer: Do not own
Summary: Unabashed Season Six fix. I regret nothing. Several months after Sam jumps into the pit, taking Michael with him, Dean is trying to move on with his life, happenstance causing him to stumble over the newly released Supernatural novels which foretell what has not happened yet. Trying to avert the war in Heaven and everything in his life falling apart again, Dean sets out to change destiny, determined that they’ll make the future of their choosing. He should know things are never that simple.
Notes: Comments are much love.
One l Two l Three l Four l Five l Six l Seven l Eight l Nine l Ten
Eleven l Twelve l Thirteen l Fourteen l Fifteen l Sixteen l Seventeen
Podfic Master Post
Chapter Eighteen
Savvy’s stay in their world was a permanent one, but being that she and her doppelganger from their world had simply been swapped out, it wasn’t really like much had changed. The one without knowledge of the supernatural world now lived in a world where the she was safe from it, whist their Savvy took her place in their world. They weren’t exact replicas of each other, from one world to the next, different choices had been made, not many, but still, and Balthazar had removed whatever extra knowledge from the doppelganger and implanted it into Savvy’s mind so that she would be able to completely integrate herself into her double’s life.
Sam watched as she regarded the motorcycle she’d just parked, her helmet under her arm as she frowned at the machine.
“I have no idea how I just drove this thing and yet I know I can as easy as breathing,” she stated. Turning her head to regard the hunter, she pointed accusingly at the vehicle. “I freaking race motorcycles, Sam! Why? Why would I do this? Why would I do this to my poor mother?”
The hunter shrugged, glancing around at the people making their way up and down the sidewalks and in and out of shops around them. “I dunno, Sav. You like them, don’t you?”
“I love motorcycles. I’ve always wanted to race them, but I never have because I am the only child of a single parent, and if anything happened to me it would destroy my mother.”
Having gotten her bag and list out of the car, Becky came around to stand by Sam at the front of the Impala. “I’ve split up the list of things we need. I’ll head to Bart’s to see if he doesn’t have that book Bobby needs in his backroom collection. You two hit the apothecary. Here are your lists. We can meet up in an hour.”
The newly realized racer shifted her weight, glancing up and down the main street. Dressed in boots, jeans, a black fitted tee streaked in silver crucifixes and wings, with her platinum hair in a braid down her back, Sam had to admit she looked really cool, and what with the helmet still on her hip, every part the cool biker girl. Not hard-core tough, but sexy and cool. The kind of girl Dean would hit on in an instant if he didn’t already know her.
“In an hour, what say we meet for lunch,” suggested Savvy, then pointed to a café with a patio area, “over there. Get in a moment of downtime before we all face certain doom tomorrow.” She looked to Becky as she said it, perhaps to ask if they had time for it in their schedule.
Dean had commented on the fact that Becky seemed to follow Savvy around a lot now that the girl had saved the blonde’s life. He’d even pulled their friend aside to see if maybe she didn’t want intervention to try and set boundaries with the blonde woman. They tried to inform her of what Becky was like, which she reminded them, she darn well knew.
She seemed to be making an effort with Becky though, even when the blonde’s attention was clearly starting to grate on her nerves. All in all, they seemed to get along well though. Sam had quietly questioned her about the extra effort to befriend the fangirl. Savvy had glanced across the room at the blond, a sort of sad, yet fond expression on her face.
“She deserves a real friend. To know what that’s like.” She’d looked at him then and Sam was taken back by the sense that Savvy somehow had a much greater understanding of Becky than he ever would. She really was the one to take up banner and sword for the sake of others. “She also needs to learn to be okay with herself regardless of what others think. That requires a friend, too.” Then she had flashed him a smile and walked off as Balthazar called her over.
Knowing they were on a schedule, but the idea of a break sounding very appealing, Sam looked to Becky as well. She nodded.
“Yeah. That sounds fun.” She glanced at her watch. “In one hour.”
At the apothecary, Savvy’s helmet ended up acting as a basket for them to carry things in as they milled around the store, checking the list and searching for items. They were grabbing the last of their items when Becky sent them both text messages that she was already at the café and had secured a table. After checking out, they stopped by the Impala long enough to toss the stuff in the trunk before meandering to meet with Becky. Having to walk through the restaurant to get to the patio area, Sam stopped short as Savvy threw out a hand to him.
Becky was talking to another girl. Well, it was a group of girls, really, three of them, all with salon perfect hair and nails, a pack, with the leader doing all the talking. Sam didn’t see why they were stopping, other than perhaps to not interrupt, but the way Savvy shoved him out of sight and stood straining her ears and eyes to what was happening just on the patio, she apparently recognized some female war currents he was immune to. Sharks circling a stranded surfer.
Becky was sitting poised in her seat, the book they’d been looking for open on the table in front of her, the dark ink contrasting with the discolored and ancient pages. Sitting there like that while the other girls were standing and outnumbered her, made the fangirl seem smaller somehow, more fragile.
“You haven’t changed since graduation,” the leader said, the falsely pleasant tone making Sam roll his eyes. It was condescending. “Still so meek looking. And still sitting all alone with your nose in some weird book.” She chuckled, and the smile on Becky’s face was tight and forced. “Some things never change.”
“Some things never do,” Becky agreed. Sam got the feeling Becky wasn’t talking about herself.
“Well, what do you do now?” the girl questioned, her head angled. “I think last I saw you, you were a receptionist in some tiny little office and living at home with the folks. Have things gotten better since then? Did you ever finally find a boyfriend?”
Glaring, Savvy turned her head to Sam, jerking her chin toward the patio, clearly telling him to get out there and do something. He shook his head, hands raised.
“It’s her fight,” he whispered, causing her eyes to narrow even more.
“My life has changed a lot since graduation,” said Becky evenly. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”
The leader smiled and waved a hand flippantly. “Aw, sweetie, you don’t have to be embarrassed. You’re just the type. Some people are meant for the single life, to be cat owners.” One of the other girls nudged the leaders, motioning to the table around them that were now full with other patrons. Her mouth wilted into a frown. “Becky, honey, I know this may sound rude, but since you’re just here by yourself and all the tables for groups are out here, could we persuade you to move your reading inside to a single’s table? It’s just, there’s no room for our party.”
The girls had circled the table, one flipping Becky’s book closed while another moved to pull out her chair for her, coaxing her to rise. The leader smiled widely.
“There’s a girl,” she cooed.
Saavy burst forward, Sam fumbling a step behind her. “Sorry we’re late,” she called in greeting, hooking her thumb at Sam as all four females looked at them in surprise. “Sammy got sucked into those stupid law books of his, blame our tardiness on him and his genius lawyer brain.”
The girls backed away a step uncertainly, looking at their leader for guidance, who watched in confused silence. Savvy ignored the lot of them, walking purposefully right up to Becky, one hand tilting the girl’s chin up before Savvy dipped her head and kissed her thoroughly, making Sam’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
Lifting her head, Savvy gave a sultry grin to a dazed, heavy-lidded Becky. “Hi, baby.” The leader cleared her throat, causing Savvy to glance at her over her shoulder. She blinked once in surprise, as if just having seen them, and shifted, one hand snaking around Becky’s body. “Oh, hi. I’m sorry, we’re ya’ll talking?”
“Becky and I know each other from school,” commented the leader. “I’d just stopped to speak while she was sitting there reading on her own.”
Savvy looked at the girl beside her inquiringly, then down at the book on the table. A bark of laughter escaped her, gaze flicking up to Sam’s. “Ha! She found it! I told you she would! Bobby is going to have a duck when all of his presents are gag gifts tomorrow!” She grinned at the female beside her, pressing a kiss to her temple that Becky closed her eyes at. “You’re a genius, Becks. This is why I love you.”
“I do what I can,” murmured the blonde.
The trio of girls all looked off balance, glancing around as if searching for why they were still there when there was no reason to stay and no table available to them. Savvy, disentangled herself from the blonde and moved to have a seat at the table, just as Sam did, followed by Becky. The leader’s blue eyes flicked to each of their faces, stopping on Becky who was staring at Savvy much in the same adoring way Cas stared at Dean.
“Well, uh,” They all looked at the leader as she fumbled awkwardly. “It was good to see you again, Becky.”
Becky just flashed her a smile and said nothing. Waiting until after the trio was gone, Savvy flashed an apologetic smile at her friend.
“Sorry about that. I told Sam to save you, but I think he was intimidated by all the silicone, botox, and spray tan. He froze up.”
The corners of her mouth wobbled as she attempted a smile, and Sam feared Becky was actually very near tears as the two women regarded each other, Savvy smiling with a soft, understanding expression.
“Mm mm. I don’t think he would have handled it as well as you did. That was really….” She sniffed, dropping her gaze. “Thanks.”
Reaching out, Savvy stroked a hand over the other girl’s hair comfortingly. “That’s what friends are for.” She winked and pulled back when Becky looked at her. “But don’t think I’m going to start making out with you in public. Next time its Sam’s turn or something.”
--
“She did what?” squawked Dean, glancing up from the maps in front of him to look at his brother.
Sam nodded from his position on the opposite side of the table, his arms folded. “Full on kissed her. Right there in front of everyone. You’d have totally thought they were together the way Savvy did it, and then the way Becky just sort of leaned into her like a safe harbor.”
Shaking his head, Dean scoffed. “This is what happens when I’m kept out of the supply runs in town. I miss all the fun.” He pointed to the map. “Well, I’m glad you’re back at least. Don’t suppose Savvy explained to you her role in all this, what with her being an actual damn Grand Prix racer in our world? Yeah, I didn’t think so, she’s still pretty skeptical about it herself, according to Balth. Part of her brain with the knowledge knows she can, since Balthazar uploaded the info from one version into another, but her memory argues with her that there’s no way.
‘Savvy is the one that is gonna activate the barrier as the wall breaks. It has to break first, though, then we have a very limited amount of time the dome has to go up in and we’re all living that Stephen King book, trapped like rats with everything we ever killed and sent back into that hell dimension.”
He trailed his index finger around the map, following a red line in a relative circle. “She has to race around the city wearing an amulet that acts as a trigger whenever she passes one of Bela’s hoo-doo boxes. She makes the circle, the shield goes up, and nothing gets in or out until the wall gets slapped into place. If the pentagram works properly, the magic from it will short-circuit the containment field and we’ll be free.”
“What about the monsters from Purgatory?”
Dean waved him off. “They’ll be free too, but we hope to severely outnumber them. We’ve already got a team over there rigging traps and setting out extra weapons and ammunition. We’re going in armed to the teeth, man.” He shook his head, regarding the map. “I hate to sound optimistic, but man, I really think we stand a decent shot at this.”
--
They stood just outside the perimeter of where the dome would be, looking with varying expressions of awe and apprehension at the abandoned city. The angels were all solemn, clearly already in soldier mindset. Actually, pretty much everyone seemed to be getting into that same mindset, a relative quiet passing over them, everyone that spoke doing so in low tones and only to the people nearest them. Gabriel was warning his daughter to be careful and to stick right by his side. The other angels just all seemed to nod to each other, for once they were all grouped together.
When the battle began, they would be air support. Dean and Sam weren’t stupid enough to believe that everything they were about to face would be grounded like they were. Sam was arguing with Sarah, trying desperately to convince her to go back to Bobby’s and stay out of the fight. Dean just wished he’d tell the girl he loved her already instead of being so obvious about it, while at the same time completely ignoring it.
It made him have sympathy for what he and Cas must have put the younger Winchester through all this time.
For his part, Cas stood with the Winchesters, waiting for when the battle that would decide the fate of the world would begin. His blue gaze wandered around almost curiously, eyeing the tall buildings and abandoned streets with a child’s curiousity and fascination. Balthazar had come over a few minutes ago to chastise him, wondering why the angel wasn’t standing with his family members.
Cas had regarded him evenly for a moment, and then told him that he was.
Demons and reapers were spread out, along with whatever fighters had volunteered to be on Team Free Will. Becky had originally been apart of the team, but Savvy had convinced her to remain at Mission Control Center, saying that someone had to be there to welcome everyone home, and that even if the main team didn’t survive, it would be her job as the new author of the Winchester gospels to tell their story when the other team put the new wall up and the last of the monsters from the other side were defeated.
Savvy also wasn’t apart of the battle. Once her part was finished, she’d head back to Mission Control and wait. Wait for word. Wait for the injured. Wait for survivors to make their way home. Part of Dean wondered if that wasn’t worse than fighting.
Shaking her hands down by her side, Savvy was sucking in deep breaths and fidgeting nervously.
“Everything will be alright,” Sam assured her, that soft, understanding look on his face that always got him his way. Savvy’s face snapped up, eyes locking with his.
“Yeah, we’ll save the world, party if up right, then all go back to doing what we all do best,” Dean agreed.
Eyes instantly welling with tears, Savvy threw herself at his chest, hugging him tightly. “I swear, if anything happens to ya’ll, I’ll kill you myself.”
She released him and hugged Sam, then moved to hug Castiel, pausing with him to look him in the eye. “You and Dean look out for one another. And keep the moose out of trouble, too. Stick together and don’t get killed.” She kissed his cheek. “And you’ve always been my favorite.”
He blinked with a start as she slipped away and put her helmet on, quickly moving over to mount her bike.
The sky overhead rumbled loudly with thunder, dark cloud swirling ominously like a tornado were forming and prepared to descend on the heart of the city. Dean glanced over his shoulder, seeing Crowley and Meg standing side by side. Meg had a sword across her back, inscribed with runes that made it able to slay an angel or a demon, and pretty much anything else. Crowley’s hands were in his pockets per usual, but Dean didn’t doubt he had his own arsenal, and an army of Hell hounds at his disposal if all the growling and invisible paws clawing the earth were anything to go by.
Glancing at his watch, Dean looked at his brother, their eyes locking. “You ready for this?”
Brown eyes regarded him, the corner of his mouth twisting upward. “Are we ever?”
A sardonic chuckle escaping him, Dean marched forward, his brother and angel falling right into step on either side of him. “Next time, it’s somebody else’s job to save the world.”
A crack of lighting split the sky so loudly, their entire rag-tag army faltered, waiting as it struck the ground in the center of the metropolis ahead of them, making their hair seem to stand on end and nerves vibrate with the electricity in the air. Savvy sat on her motorcycle and watched as they all moved as a unified force. Probably the only time Heaven, Hell, and Earth would join forces like this, and it might very well be the last.
Another crack of lighting split the sky and struck the earth, ripping through the concrete streets like paper, charring black cracks into the roads. The final strike of lightening was like a bomb going off, a force so strong it decimated cars and trees around its landfall, would have blinded the warriors had they not shielded their eyes, the too bright, impossibly white light devastating to behold.
Dean heard the motorcycle engine roar in the distance before his eyes adjusted again. The motorcycle peeling off was signal enough for him as to what he saw when he lowered his arm, as he heard guns cocked and weapons unsheathed.
Forms clung to the sides of buildings with huge talons and claws, some of them humanoid, most of them not. Overhead, great beasts beat their wings against the air, feathered and leather skin alike, keeping them airborne as they regarded the insignificant humans on the ground, reptilian and barbed tails flicking the air. Chimeras and rotting corpses stood waiting on the ground, the two armies standing off in a tense air that crackled all around them.
There was a snap of wings unfurling, all the angels but one prepared to take to the air and fight the battle that the rest of them couldn’t. Growls filled the air, invisible paws clawing and raking the earth anxiously until Crowley gave a shrill whistle and all the hounds of hell rushed forward, the angels took flight, the warriors fired their weapons, and the battle to save the world began.
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Date: 2012-08-02 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 05:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 05:18 pm (UTC)Really?! *flattered*
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Date: 2012-08-02 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 03:08 pm (UTC)EDIT: I kid you not, I *just* posted this chapter, too. I've been posting a lot this week. Lol This chapter for me, I posted a prompt I did at the request of another reader, and then I recorded a short Becky-centric podfic. I still have to record this chapter and upload it. Busy week.
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Date: 2012-08-02 05:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-02 05:18 pm (UTC)RIGHT?! OMG, it's like I just finished writing a chapter! I have other things I need to try and work into my schedule too, btw!!! GEEZ!! You're not due till next week! Go sit in the corner and be quiet! lol
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Date: 2012-08-02 05:18 pm (UTC)