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Sapphire looks for Steel once she arrives, not seeing him immediately which isn't unusual. She does see a human, a man, and if she was to guess she'd have to say he looks tired. It's not always easy to tell with humans. He hasn't noticed her yet, so she doesn't announce herself. Instead watching him to see if there's a clue to what exactly the problem is in this place. He's walking down a hallway and she starts to follow before he turns the corner, not wanting to lose sight of him. She needn't have worried as he's leaning against the wall of an almost identical corridor, the only thing keeping him from seeing her is the fact that he's facing the other direction. The man is tense and Sapphire isn't sure what is causing it or what type of tension it is, anticipatory or dread.
Before she has time to dwell on it, another man appears in the middle of the hallway, walking towards the man Sapphire has been following. She can tell immediately that this is the reason they were assigned to this location, something Steel also picks up on as he joins her in watching the corridor. She speaks with him silently, not wanting to break the tableau in front of them as the man turns to stand in the doorway of one of the rooms along the hallway, That man is both here and not. Time is like a whirlpool around him.
Steel hums in agreement and answers, He's an angel. Odd for one of them to be walking around as a human.
She looks at the man again and sees what Steel's picked up on. The eddies in the dimensions around the man as he walks, she'd mistaken them for more of the twisting of Time, but Steel had seen that it was his wings. It gives her a better idea of when they are at least, After the Fall by the looks of it. Everything in this place is a dangerous mixture of old and new. She doesn't need to look into the rooms to know how old everything is, she can feel it. Just like she can feel a much newer cell phone in the pocket of the man she had been following. It's always dangerous to mix the age of objects like this, but it doesn't explain what is happening.
As they watch the there-not-there angel disappears and the man sighs, loudly, before turning. He startles when he sees them and pulls out a handgun, "What the hell are you and how did you get in here?"
Steel steps in front of her without comment or thought. There is a small chance that a bullet might injure her, but it would take something special to cause Steel harm. Before Steel can get aggressive she puts her hand on his shoulder and leans around him, "You asked what we are not who."
The man snorts, but doesn't lower his gun, "This place is shut down. No getting in or out for us measly humans. You two show up out of nowhere?" He lowers the gun then and gestures with it, "Can this even hurt you?"
"No," Steel replies in his normal monotone offering nothing further. Once it's clear that a no is all he's getting the man shakes his head and puts his gun back where he was keeping it, tucked into his jeans at the small of his back. It doesn't appear to be a safe place to keep it, but Sapphire has never taken much interest in the objects.
The man shakes his head and checks his watch, "Do we need to be here? Are you planning on killing me?"
"No," Sapphire steps around Steel and smiles at the man. Most people find her smile trustworthy, but the man just gives her an unimpressed look. "We have no plans on doing anything to you. We don't need to be in this location, although we may need to come back."
"Great," the man stares at the ceiling for a second before walking past them, "Do you eat? He'll be in the kitchen now, I usually make lunch."
She shares a look with Steel and they follow behind him. Steel lets her continue talking to the man as he examines the walls they pass on the way to the kitchen, "We can eat, but we don't require it. I enjoy it when the opportunity arises, but Steel usually avoids it."
"Stone face there is Steel?" He doesn't look at her as they walk, but she gets the impression that he knows exactly where both her and Steel are at all times. "And you are?"
"Sapphire," she briefly considers offering her hand as most humans in this time and place anticipate that when exchanging names, but decides against it. She doesn't get the impression that the man would shake it if she offered, "Are there many apparitions? How long has it been happening?"
They finally leave the hallways and step into a library, the books a mishmash of timelines that will be most annoying to spend any time around. She notices that one of the tables has a pillow and blanket on top of it, which is odd, but hardly the oddest thing they've seen. The man continues talking as they walk through the room and down some stairs, "I'm Dean and the apparitions started showing up about a month ago. Two days after I saw the first one this whole place went on lock down. I can use my cell and the air circulation is working, but the doors won't open for anything." He waves up the stairs as they pass them and she can see a door at the top, "My brother is on the outside freaking out."
"But not you," Steel rejoins the conversation as they step into the kitchen to see the angel sitting at the table, laughing even though they can't hear it. "You seem comfortable with the situation."
There's a hint of reproach in Steel's voice. Generally if people are unconcerned with the side effects of Time breaking through they're the cause of it. But Dean just shrugs as he pulls out what looks like sandwich materials, facing the angel as he assembles one, "It's pathetic, but I'm just happy to have time with Cas." He seems content with the situation, but Sapphire can still see the tension in him. The way it floats in the air around him. The way he can't seem to take his eyes off the angel, even though he needs to in order to make his sandwich. She's seen facades like these before, usually covering a deep sadness. But not always. Humans are complex creatures.
"Cas? That's the angel?" Steel asks as he steps closer to the table, sitting down next to the man. Sapphire moves to the stool on the other side of him and, unsurprisingly, Dean takes the one across from the angel.
"Yeah," Dean looks surprised, "You can tell he's an angel?" Neither of them answer, too wrapped up in studying the apparition of the angel. Hesitantly Sapphire reaches out a hand, hovers just beyond touching the apparition, but doesn't attempt contact. The feeling of Time is too strong and they're not yet at the point where they should tempt such thing. They look up when Dean throws bits of cheese at them, "Hey, don't ignore me. Do I even get to know what your two are?"
"I'm Steel and this is Sapphire," Steel states in a tone that conveys just how much his patience is eroding. He's getting better Sapphire knows, but he'll never be patient with humans and their ridiculous questions. She's more understanding, humans always have trouble understanding that they are what they are. Dean snorts at that, but doesn't say anything else as they examine the angel. Sapphire can't help but see the way he's also watching Cas. There's a look in his eyes that she can't quite place. Human emotions are difficult at the best of times and she rarely sees them at the best of times. Before either of them can say anything else the apparition sitting between them disappears. Sapphire follows Dean's line of sight to the other side of the kitchen where a different version stands, apparently arguing with nothing.
Dean looks at her and shrugs, "I'd really like to argue with him again, but even if I stand there and say my lines he doesn't see me."
"Interesting," Steel interjects. He stands and moves to walk around the new apparition. "Is there a central point them? Do they originate somewhere?"
Dean freezes then and lets out a small laugh as the current Cas disappears. He stands up and heads out of the room, calling behind him, "First time I saw him was in the library, but I think what you're looking for is in room 7B."
They listen to him walk away and then both stand and face each other. Sapphire is the first to make a comment, I think he's a contributing factor.
Agreed, Steel states as he glares at the doorway Dean left through. You've seen them?
Of course, she replies and turns to walk out of the room, accepting Steel's arm when he holds it out to her. They walk through the library and back to the hallways they'd originally followed Dean through. I'm going to find him.
"And I'll find room 7B," Steel states before walking off down one of the branches, leaving her to follow the faint traces of time eddies she can feel in the air.
She finds Dean in the bathroom, standing against the wall, watching another apparition of Cas shower. He seems embarrassed when she walks up next to him and she can't imagine why. Despite his obvious discomfort at having her in the room as well he doesn't move his gaze from the apparition. There's something off about the Cas in the shower, but she can't quite figure out what. She stands silently with him until the Cas he was watching disappears attempting to figure out what was different about that Cas. He doesn't move to leave, instead turning his head to look back towards the door in time to watch a different Cas walk in. This one doesn't strike her as off and that's what finally clues her into what was wrong with the other one, "He was human."
Dean startles next to her, like he forgot she was there, and nods his head as they watch the new Cas slowly remove his clothing, "For a time. Not this one though. I didn't realize he would do this, but there's a couple different times I've seen him in the showers when he was a full angel again. I guess he just liked it."
She notes the sadness and longing in his voice, both dangerous emotions in these circumstances. Especially with all of the bits and pieces she's putting together, "Time moves oddly around you."
"Time?" Dean turns to her as the current apparition disappears. He heads towards the doorway back into the hall and she follows behind him. He seems to debate which direction to go from this point, "You can see time?"
"In a sense. Time is why we're here after all. It's broken through," She follows as he turns to head to the left. "We're here to stop the incursion."
"Sure, why not." It's not a question and she doesn't respond to it. He's taking everything in stride much more than people normally do. "I've played Marty McFly on a couple of occasions. Maybe that's what you're seeing."
She doesn't understand what he means by Marty McFly, but she understands what he's saying. Everything is adding up in a dangerous way. She needs to speak to Steel, "I'm going to find Steel."
She doesn't wait for his reply, instead heading off to follow her innate sense of where Steel is at. She's not sure what the inciting incident was, but she can see all the cracks that allowed Time to break through. Something happened to Cas, of that she's sure. Turning down the twisting corridors she eventually comes across Steel standing in front of a blank wall. She can tell by the set of his shoulders that something has greatly annoyed him. He speaks without looking at her, "There's a door here, but it won't show itself. Whatever we're looking for is beyond that."
"I think something happened to Cas," She replies as she moves to stand next to Steel and reach out with her own senses. He's correct, there is a door there, or there was or maybe will be and at the same time it never existed. Time is much stronger than they had feared, "Cas spent time as a human, Dean has traveled through time more than once, and he is filled with longing."
"Dangerous," Steel says in reply. They stand silently together, contemplating the wall should be a door until Steel moves to the actual wall next to where the door should/will/could be and braces a hand against it. She doesn't say anything as he pushes. Breaking through this wall should be an easy matter for Steel. Instead of the wall giving way though there's a ripple through reality and they find themselves standing in the entrance to the library. "Concerning."
Sapphire smiles at the word. Steel never says more than he needs to, "Perhaps we need Dean."
"Perhaps," Steel steps into the room and looks at the books on the shelves, snorting as he reads their titles. "This explains somethings."
She walks up beside him and looks at the books herself, ignoring the discomfort they bring, "So it does." Most humans are unaware of the various things in their world that aren't human, but this library suggests Dean is not one of them. Before they can examine more a pounding starts on the metal door up the stairs in the next room.
Dean joins them at the top of the stairs a few minutes later, "It's just Sam. He does this every day. And then he calls me to complain about the door not opening."
He's looking down into the room below them at yet another Cas, this one appearing to hang things on some sort of wall that isn't there now. She exchanges a glance with Steel to confirm that they're of the same mind and steps up to stand next to him, "You have to tell your brother to stop."
"Yeah, he's not going to do that," Dean doesn't look at her, just continues to stare down at the Cas who is now animatedly talking to someone sitting across the table from him. "I've been telling him to leave me alone for weeks now. Maybe months. Lost track of time really."
That is another thing to add to the worrying pile of things building up here. She turns back towards Steel, watching as he works to reinforce the door, "If he manages to break through then Time will escape. The only thing keeping it confined right now is this place." She doesn't really understand why, just that something about this place has created a secondary cage for Time to break through.
"What would happen then?"
If Sapphire had to guess she would say Dean sounds resigned. An unusual reaction, normally people ask what she means by Time and how it can cause harm. Dean seems to accept it as a given that Time is a malevolent force, "The destruction of this planet at the very least." The transuranic elements would have to be called in and it's rare that anything survives them.
Dean nods his head and pulls out his phone as the Cas below them disappears. After a moment the pounding stops and Dean starts speaking into it, "Sammy you've got to stop trying to break in."
It takes very little effort for her to listen in on both sides of the conversation as Steel leaves to go and reinforce other parts of the building in ways only he can. The voice on the other end is harsh, upset to Sapphire's ears, "No, Dean, I'm not giving up on you."
"You're not giving up on me," Dean stares at the ceiling and the door and everywhere but back down into the room where another Cas has appeared, this one smiling and laughing. "You're not breaking in and I'm being told that if you did it would probably end the world."
"Told? Told by who?" The man's voice rises as he speaks and Dean rolls his eyes. "No, never mind. If someone could get in there they would be able to get you out. It's been almost 3 months Dean, it's not healthy to be alone for that long. And you're going to run out of food."
Dean sighs and stares at Sapphire, clearly weighing whether or not telling his brother about her and Steel would help. He eventually shakes his head and leans against the railing, "I told you, I'm not going to run out of food. Everything I eat reappears in the kitchen."
She stops listening then and walks down the stairs towards the kitchen. The food remaining stable and regenerating is, yet another, worrying development. She clearly didn't look closely enough at the kitchen before. She stands in the middle and lets her senses expand outward, focusing on some apples sitting on the counter. She confirms her fears in bits and pieces, opening her eyes when she hears footsteps walking up to her. Dean is standing in front of her with his phone held up and she knows he's sending a video of her to his brother. Something that is confirmed when the voice she'd heard before rings out loudly in the kitchen, "Who is that? How did she get there? Why are her eyes glowing blue?"
"Sapphire, I don't know, and I don't know," Dean says in response. He shrugs his shoulders at her, like this was just another thing. Perhaps for him, it is. It would explain his blase attitude towards everything that has been happening.
His brother starts asking more questions, but she doesn't pay attention to them. She wouldn't answer them anyways. Instead she moves to walk past Dean, "I need to find Steel. Things are worse than they seem." It's hard to see how much worse the situation could get. This is the most dangerous situation she's been in since that diner so long ago now. Silver won't be able to pull out a clever trick to save them this time though.
His brother starts asking more questions, but she walks off into the long and twisting hallways. Eventually she finds Steel in the garage. She's not sure what he's doing, but she's sure it will reinforce this places defenses. Which seem formidable. She waits for him to finish before speaking, "This whole place is in stasis."
"That explains a lot," Steel says as he puts his suit coat back on. They don't need to discuss the dangers presented with long term stasis as Time is able to exploit the cracks. It's worrying that it took so long for them to be dispatched, but that is perhaps because of the defenses around this place. Something they will have to consider in the future. If there's a future for this planet.
"We need to know what happened to Cas and what it has to do with room 7B," She responds as her eyes catch on one of the cars in the garage. Like everything else it's a mix of old and new. She can tell it's been rebuilt several times. Even if they got out of this situation alive attention would have to be paid to these people and this place. Everything around them is a danger.
They once again find Dean in the kitchen, watching a Cas at the stove, while eating some noodles. He doesn't look at them, "I was teaching him how to make grilled cheese sandwiches."
Sapphire can't help but move closer to him, looking at the disruptions in the dimensions around him, "I don't think I've ever seen an angel so fully inhabit a human body."
"It lacks a soul," Steel says from the doorway. Of course he's correct, but her point remains. Everything has led to this moment of allowing Time to attempt an escape. Steel moves to stand next to Dean and Sapphire can see that he's attempting to be understanding, gentle even, but he's never been good at that, "You need to bring us to room 7B. Explain what happened there."
"No," Dean doesn't ask any questions, something she's almost used to now. She's grown quite good at coming up with metaphors to explain situations in a way humans can understand and it's slightly bothersome that Dean hasn't allowed her to use any of them. "You can go in there and do whatever it is you need to do."
He turns to leave the room as the Cas at the stove disappears. He doesn't go far, simply to the balcony overlooking the entrance room, sitting in one of the chairs with a new Cas in the other. He's poured a glass of some type of alcohol and appears to be pretending to enjoy a drink with the apparition. They've had people rage and plea and try to sabotage them, but it's extremely rare to find someone who just ignores them. She's still trying to figure out how to approach the situation when Steel appears next to him, "We can't access the room. The doorway isn't there."
That actually seems to get Dean's attention, "What do you mean it isn't there."
"The wall is blank," Sapphire joins the conversation from the ground, calling up to them. "There's a feeling that a door may exist in that spot at some point in time, but not currently."
Steel moves to block Dean's view of Cas, "We can't do this without your assistance. We need to know what happened or your entire planet will be destroyed."
The way Dean sighs makes Sapphire feel tired, which isn't a sensation she usually has reason to feel, but he puts his glass down and rubs his face, "Tomorrow. Give me one more night and I'll tell you everything tomorrow. Never let it be said Dean Winchester let his own feelings come in the way of saving the world."
There's a sadness to it, the longing he's been projecting at every Cas intensifying, but a quick glance at Steel has them both agreeing. They've had people make similar promises in the past, almost always attempting to betray them in the morning. Something about Dean makes her think he won't. He will help them even though it will clearly break his heart to do so. Sometimes humans can be surprising.
They leave him alone for the night after that. The pillow and blanket on the table in the library making sense once Dean lays down on it as a Cas appears in one of the chairs. She watches long enough to see that one disappear and another appear by one of the bookcases. Cas must have spent a lot of time in this library at night. She follows Steel out of the room, leaving Dean to his last night with Cas. Neither Steel or herself need to sleep so they spend the night in front of where the door to room 7B should be, studying the phenomenon. She's not sure they have a better grasp on it or what they'll find when they get beyond it.
Dean meets them in the morning, one hall over from where 7B should be, cup of coffee in hand. The coffee grows cold as he explains, in fits and starts, everything that happened with Cas. Death, the Empty, God making a nuisance of himself, it all adds up to what they're seeing. She has a general idea of what they'll need to do, but she won't be sure until they're in the room. Turning to Steel she asks privately so as not to disturb Dean's tears, Can you do it?
Possibly. It will depend on how things look when we get inside. Can you?
She smiles at him, he knows her answer is the same as his. They wait until Steel gets impatient and clears his throat, aggressively, to get Dean's attention. She pretends to not see him wiping his eyes, she understands that most humans don't want to be seen crying. Steel doesn't offer the same courtesy and she shakes her head at him as Dean leads them back down the hallway. He glowers at her and at the door that has suddenly decided to exist now that Dean is standing in front of it. He's nervous as he takes the doorknob in hand, "7B is the room beyond this one. Technically." The door opens into a normal storage room. Sapphire is unsurprised, but Dean seems to be. "Shouldn't there be something here?"
"Time is as clever as it is malicious. I suspect anything we see will be in the next room," Sapphire gestures for him to lead them on. This time the lack of door is explained by the hidden entrance. Dean takes a deep breath before opening that door. He lets out a broken sound at what lies beyond and she gently moves him to the side so they can see.
The scene is silent before them, but she knows what's happening because Dean has just told them about it. She sees both a Cas and another Dean acting out the final moments before the Empty arrived. It's a loop that keeps replaying as soon as Death walks into the room. It doesn't continue to the point where the Empty manifested itself. Death walks in and then there's a microsecond blip before everything resets. They watch it loop several times before Steel speaks, "Can you do it?"
"I believe so, although it will be difficult," She moves herself into optimal positioning. Or at least what she thinks is optimal. "Can you?"
"It will be difficult," Steel replies as he removes his suit jacket and rolls up his sleeves. "We should begin."
She can see Dean watching them in confusion, but doesn't spare him any of her attention. She has a microsecond of room. Barely a breath of space to grab the flow of time and wind it forward. Just as the scene pauses to reset she reaches out and stops it. The strain is more than she'd hoped it would be, but less than she'd feared. It's an effort to break to the loop from it's track and force it forward. She has to move as the scene starts to advance, ignoring the soft sobs she can hear coming from Dean at the doorway. Steel moves into position as the Empty appears in the wall and waits. Once the Empty takes Death the resistance she's been facing to get things to advance disappears and things progress under their own momentum.
She staggers over to where Dean is standing, "It's in Steel's hands now."
He doesn't respond, but she didn't expect it of him. They both watch as Cas is pulled into the Empty and just as the passageway is about to close completely Steel sticks his hand in and holds it open. With a grunt he gets his other hand on the side and forces it wider. Not too wide, enough for Steel to reach his arm into the passageway. Steel drops his body temperature and the rest of the room plummets in response. She'll have to bring him to Lead after this, if it works. Their breath is frosting the air when Steel grunts and starts walking backwards, slowly pulling Cas back into the room. Frost builds on Cas' body as he becomes part of this time and place and she walks forward to take him from Steel as he comes free, Steel dropping Cas to reach back into the opening.
Dean has taken him from her by the time Death appears. This time Steel walks backwards, letting Death slip free as the passageway finally closes. The air stops getting colder, although it will be some time before it fully warms again. She helps Steels bring Death back into the hallway beyond the rooms, watching him for signs of damage. It always takes it out of him to bring his temperature down like that. Once in the hallway they find Dean on the ground with Cas in his lap, crying as Cas wakes up. He spares them one look before leaning down to kiss Cas. She leaves them to their reunion and focuses on the building. The incursion has stopped and she turns to let Steel know it worked just in time to see Death reach out a hand towards Dean and Cas. She grabs it in her own hand, "No."
"No?" Death says in return, barely able to stand on her own. "Do you know who I am?"
"Do you know who we are?" Steel asks from behind her and she finally seems to take a moment to asses the situation. While she does that Sapphire spends what's left of her energy undoing the damage on the hand in her grasp.
Death stops resisting as she finally seems to realize who they are, "Oh, were things that bad?"
"Worse," Sapphire replies as she drops the hand and turns to Steel. "I think we all have better things to do right now?"
She doesn't have to look to know that Death leaves then. With a smile she takes the arm Steel puts out for her and allows him to lead them home. They both will need to rest after submitting their reports on what happened here. She spares a thought for Dean and Cas as they leave that plane of existence. She finds love an intriguing concept for how dangerous it tends to be in their experience. She hopes it's worth it for them.