#alt!dean

[sweetonsugden]

[saltnhalo]

written for @amirosebooks for my 2k follower giveaway <3

They’d known, in all their planning and their weighing of pros and cons, that there was a risk. Dean just… didn’t think it was a risk that they would actually have to worry about.

And yet here he is, standing at the entrance to the rift, a gun pointed at his head and a pair of very familiar hands holding that gun.

“What are you?” the man growls, and Dean cannot blame him for being wary. He would be too, if someone like him had showed up out of a glowing tear in the fabric of reality.

“I’m you,” he says simply, raising his hands to show that he is both unarmed and unafraid. “I’m from a different world. A different universe.”

The man just blinks at him. His gun doesn’t waver, and Dean can’t blame him—he wouldn’t buy that explanation if he was in his position, either. Just his luck that out of all the places the spell could’ve spat him out, it just fuckin’ happened to be right here, right next to the only person in any universe who’s just as wary and cautious as he is.

Himself.

Other-Dean gestures with his gun towards the building to Dean’s right, and it’s not hard to interpret that message. If he resists, Dean’s going to become Swiss cheese quicker than he can say ‘don’t shoot,’ so his only real option is to comply.

He’s led inside, down a series of twisting corridors, and they end up in what Dean can pretty quickly identify as some sort of rudimentary panic room. Wherever they are, other-Dean and his people have only just started rigging this place for use, but they’ve still got strong cuffs and a whole range of shit to test him with.

As other-Dean presses metal against his skin, splashes him with holy water, tries everything he knows (Dean knows this because it’s his knowledge too) to prove that Dean isn’t who he says he is, Dean just steadily holds his gaze. Finally, finally, other-Dean seems to admit defeat.

“Fine,” he mutters, dragging up a chair opposite Dean’s and dropping into it. He leans forward, elbows resting on his thighs, and makes no move to take the cuffs off Dean. “You’re not anything that I can test for, which I hope means you’re not bullshittin’ me. I don’t feel like becoming a monster’s shish kebab tonight. So what the hell are you here for?”

Dean twists his lips up in a quick, bitter smile. Is he always this annoying when he’s interrogating people? Other-Dean looks a couple years younger than he is right now, that’s for sure. Hopefully that explains it. “I’m looking for Cas,” Dean tells him, already impatient to cut to the quick of all this. Every second here is a second he’s wasting. “Fucking idiot got zapped somewhere, so now it’s up to me to go find him, I guess, which is why I jumped over into your universe.”

He laughs, somewhat humorlessly. “Gotta say, it was a bit of a surprise coming face to face with myself, that’s for sure.”

Other-Dean smiles, quick and cold and with not a single shred of sincerity. “I can’t imagine,” he quips. “And c’mon, you expect me to believe that? Cas is a big boy, he can look after himself. Like you’d go running off after him just because he disappeared for a bit.”

Something about that sets off alarm bells in Dean’s head, but he can’t quite put his finger on why.

“I went after him because—“ he starts, but he never gets a chance to finish.

The door to the panic room opens, and in steps Castiel.

He should be the spitting image of the Castiel back in Dean’s universe, Dean’sCastiel, but… he’s not. He’s just different enough to be unsettling—no toaster iron burn on his knuckles, or little curl of hair behind his ears that he keeps simply because Dean thinks it looks cute.

Yes, he’s still Cas, but he’s not the right Cas.

Even though he’d mostly expected this, Dean’s heart still sinks.

And then Castiel makes his way over, standing stiffly beside other-Dean’s chair, and Dean realizes that that’s not the only thing different about this universe.

Fuck. He clenches his left hand into a fist and hides it between his knees—he knows himself, but he doesn’t know other-Dean, and both of those factors mean that it’s probably a very good idea to keep his wedding ring out of sight right now.

Because while he and Cas got over all their stupid hang-ups a long time ago in their own universe… it’s clear that these guys haven’t. Not yet, at least.  

Other-Dean looks up at Castiel, and the corners of his eyes soften, just for a second, as they share a look. Married or not, so much information passes between them in that moment. Is this what it looks like when I do that with Cas?Dean finds himself wondering.

And then other-Dean turns back towards him, and the moment is broken. “Because?” he prompts, eyebrows raised.

The sentence that Dean had been halfway through when Cas had walked in comes back to him all at once, and he mentally curses himself out as he scrambles to think of a believable lie. Somehow, he feels like ‘because he’s my husband’ might not be his quickest way out of this situation.

“Because he’s my best friend,” he finishes lamely. “I’d do anything for him.”

Both other-Dean and Castiel stare at him for long time, and Dean is acutely aware of the fact that he’s being sized up, the truth of his words weighed. He does his best to hold his ground, resisting the urge to fidget in his chair beneath the two pairs of eyes. He’s not lying, just… bending the truth a little. He hopes they see that.

Finally, other-Dean says, “Give us a second.” He stands up from his chair and turns away, Castiel following him a handful of paces away. With their voices lowered, they’re out of Dean’s earshot, but he still manages to glean plenty of useful information.

Like the way Cas stands too close, and how other-Dean leans into it instead finding his own space. They talk with their heads bowed close together, words soft and lips barely moving. Dean catches other-Dean’s eyes dropping to Castiel’s mouth at least twice.

Perhaps they’re not far off marriage after all, he thinks with giddy amusement, pulling nervously against his cuffs. Or least admitting how the fuck they feel. It took me and Cas long enough, though.

They must eventually come to some kind of agreement, because Castiel nods his head, and other-Dean gives him a quick, soft smile that Dean recognizes as one he only ever gives to Cas. They make their way back over, and this time, Castiel is the one to speak.

“Your Castiel is not in this universe,” he says, and god, it’s a relief to hear his voice again, but it’s still just not quite right enough to make Dean ache for hisCas. “I would have felt a rift open as I did for your entrance, but yours is the only trespass I have registered.”

“But we’ve agreed,” other-Dean cuts in, “that you’re telling the truth, and you don’t mean us any harm. So we’re letting you go.”

Oh, thank fuck.

~

They don’t take the handcuffs off Dean until they’re back outside. He can’t help but watch other-Dean and Castiel as they escort him out, smiling faintly to himself as he recognizes all the little signs of two people who obviously have feelings for each other but are just too fucking idiotic to realize. Now he understands how Sam had felt, all that time.

“Alright,” other-Dean says, unlocking Dean’s cuffs as Castiel works on opening a new rift with the same spellbook that Dean recognizes from his own universe. It’s weird to see him with mojo again. “Cas is gonna send you back through to your universe, and we never want to see you again. I’ve had to come face to face with myself way too fucking many times, and I’d really like for this to be the last.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Dean says drily, flexing his wrists now that they’re finally free from the cuffs. Castiel gets the rift open, and other-Dean steps back.

Cas hadn’t been here, but now they can cross one more universe off their list, and Dean will keep looking.

He will always keep looking.

Right before he’s about to step through the rift, poised right on the very edge, other-Dean speaks.

“Hey, congrats on the ring, by the way,” he says, gesturing to Dean’s left hand. There’s a slightly wistful look on his face. “She must be quite something, if she could get us to settle down.”

Quite something. You have no fucking idea, Dean thinks.

“Yes,” he agrees quietly, looking over at Castiel where he holds the rift open. “He is.”

And then he steps through the rift, and disappears.

[found--family]

For the ask thing: 75!

hello lovely! thankyou for your question! 😘💌

#75 — Which alternate future/universe in canon is my favorite?

I know a lot of people would probably answer Endverse (and I do love endverse!Destiel) but an Apocalyptic world overrun by zombies is a little too dark for me so it doesn't take out my Top spot (no matter how many awesome fics I've read 😍) but it definitely gets an honourable mention. 💖

Because I'm indecisive I'm gonna list my Top 3:

#3 - PURGATORY aka. Purgaytory  (s8)

Aside from the delicious Destiel content (Dean searching for Cas for a year and praying to him every night), Benny being a delight in every sense, and the general comical bickering of our 3 amigos, I love that it gave us purgatory!Dean (his entire journey in season 8 is quality content) as well as the introduction of Monsterland after we were teased with it in season 6.

I am sad they didn't explore the landscape and realm size further, as well as any monster hierarchy, or show us other types of giant/archaic monsters, but plot and budget restraints are understandable and what we did get was gold (the filter was a nice touch too, really helped set the tone and give it a vibe remeniscent of the early seasons). Thankfully there are also awesome fic writers out there exploring the unexplored for us (Redemption Road is a must-read 📖).

Season gr8 is my favourite season and Purgatory is a big part of Why. I'm thrilled they brought it back in season 15 and the introduction of the Leviathan Blossom lends inspiration to what other kinds of botanical life might reside there. 

#2 - THE FAERIE REALM  (s6 + s8)

The aliens-oh-no-wait-it's-fairies! ep of season 6 (6x09) is one of the lightest and (imho) most enjoyable eps of the dark season, and i love the x-files vibe of it. It gives us glimpses of fae realm creatures from Leprechauns and little Elves to Redcaps and Tinks, and we witness some fae magic including being teased with the fix-it of a Leprechaun's magic being able to reach into Lucifer's cage and retrieve Sam's soul with no fuss (i mean WOW, yes I'm intrigued). And let's not forget Dean's brief foray into the realm itself, which means he can now see fairies while others can't (I love coda fics of Dean's time there, and would gladly read more extensive fics exploring the realm, ie. Dean and soulless!Sam in a Canon Divergent adventure).

..which brings me to season 8 (8x11) where we meet fairy!Gilda and witness some dark fairy magic. Is Gilda's world in the same realm as the fairies we met in 6x09? Possibly. I would gladly read an adventure fic where Charlie, Dean and Sam venture into Gilda's realm (and don real warrior garb). I'm sure the MOL have files and artefacts that could be worked into a multi-realm case fic (Dean would be an awesome warrior in a fantasy war). 

Basically I love the introduction of fairies and a fae realm into the SPN 'verse because it lends a different kind of magic than we've seen from the usual witches, demigods, demons and angels. I wish we'd had another episode or two that explored fae lore. 

an honourable mention goes to Oz (because I love Dorothy and the fact that Charlie got her quest). It seems cool, but i prefer the open-to-interpretation-ness of a *fae realm*.

#1 AU!WINCHESTERS WORLD  (s15)

AU!Dean and AU!Sam might’ve been scripted mostly for comedic relief, but the existence of their world is a gift: a world where they drive a pastel fiat, wear expensive fashionable clothes (and manbuns), where people are aware of monsters to the point that cooperations exist to train hunters and get paid handsomely to hunt all over the world..

I mean, I'm sure there have been Alternate Canon fics set in such a world but now it's canon and i just love it! The possibilities are endless, y'know? 

I want a fic exploring their upbringing and hunter lives in this other realm, how society differs and whether any creatures have been enfolded into that society over the years. 

I want a fic of our boys swapping lives with the AU!Winchesters for the duration of a case. 

I want to see what our other beloved SPN characters are like in that AU. 

But to be perfectly honest the main reason I love that AU is because it gave us the beautiful cinnamon roll that is AU!Dean (we must protect him at all costs! 😍) and how contrasted his characterisation is to our Dean. 

I love how the AU!Winchesters appear to be rich&pampered and yet we have to remind ourselves they come from a world with monsters, they come from a life of hunting that takes them all over the world and is "exhausting", they come from a "family business" existence (incorporated). They may appear non-threatening, dress differently, speak differently, not drink beer and all the other differences between them, but they are still world-renowned monster assassins smart enough to jump from one universe to another in order to survive. They're a badass duo I want to read more of. 

Thankyou so much for the ask! I had fun with this one. 😁

send me more questions from this list!