Chapter 14
Suddenly, a loud alarm sounded in the camp.
The prisoners started to move from around them to huddle in a corner of the yard, looking terrified, while the soldiers were shouting at them from everywhere to move.
“I don’t like the looks of this.” Dean murmured nervously as the six of them looked around in confusion.
“What’s going on?” Charles asked in worry, hating the fact that he couldn’t know the answer from the minds surrounding him.
“I don’t know.” Tony answered as he frowned in confusion, then turned to the man who was still staring at Charles. “What are we doing?”
“It’s round up time.” The man answered in a frustrated tone, that made Tony frown at him in confusion. That didn’t sound like a defeated prisoner like the others.
“Round up for what?” Natasha questioned with a confused scowl on her face.
A group of heavily armed soldiers entered the yard and gestured towards them firmly.
“In line. Now!” one of them ordered harshly, aiming their guns at them.
The six of them took a step back, while looking around the cowering prisoners nervously.
The gate opened and they tensed when they saw two figures entering the yard, with sure heavy steps.
“Guys.” Bucky murmured softly as he saw that one of the two figures was none other than Dark Steve, who eyed them with a complete dead look in his eyes.
The other figure gave them a pause as shock fell on them like lightening.
Dressed completely in black, Bobby Singer of this world stepped towards them with a harsh, cruel look on his face that felt completely wrong.
“Oh, God.” Dean murmured as he shared a wide-eyed look with Tony. Both not believing the new, dark face.
“So, these are the heroes.” Dark Bobby grimaced at them in disdain, like they were abominations and freaks of nature.
“Yes, commander.” One of the soldiers confirmed in deep respect.
The only thing they could do was stare, as Dark Bobby stopped a few feet away from them, with Dark Steve silent beside him, both eyeing them with dead eyes.
“This is too much. It’s just keeps getting worse.” Dean murmured under his breath, chest tightening at seeing his surrogate father looking at him with so much disdain and cruelty on his face.
Dark Bobby’s eyes landed on Dean and he scoffed, eyeing him from head to toe.
“You know, before I met the king, I had a son who looked exactly like you. He alleged himself with the unpure as well, like you.” He said as he stepped closer to Dean, letting his eyes travel over Dean’s face. “And I expunged that filth from my family line forever.”
Dean flinched at the amount of cruelty in the man’s voice, feeling it like a slap to his face.
“Bring them all.” Dark Bobby ordered firmly, eyes trailing over them, then his eyes landed on the man who Tony talked to earlier, currently eyeing the commander defiantly. “And him!”
“Move! Now!” the soldiers shouted at them, nudging them harshly with their guns.
“Hey, don’t hit him in the back!” Tony exclaimed at a soldier, who pushed Charles harshly from the back, ignoring his pained wince.
“Shut up and move!” the soldier shouted as he aimed his gun at Tony.
“Tony, stay silent and walk.” Natasha whispered, while Dean nudged him away to make him move, Bucky and Clint helped a pained looking Charles to walk as well.
The seven prisoners were led out of the yard and made to walk through a huge dark field, guns aimed at them at all times.
“Not to be an alarmist, but if we don’t have an escape plan, I suggest we get one immediately.” Charles said, as he looked at his companions urgently.
Dean looked discreetly behind him at the soldiers following him, then out of sight he gestured with his chained hand with four fingers, indicating that there were four soldiers behind him.
Natasha caught the gesture and took a look behind her, then gestured there were three other soldiers she could see.
Dean nodded at Clint and Bucky, who nodded back at him, then gave a meaningful look to Tony, that meant to take Charles and run when they attack.
They waited a few more seconds, before they all moved at the same time.
But, apparently, Steve Rogers was observant no matter what version of him it was.
The moment they moved, he raised a device towards them and pressed it.
Electricity shot from the collars around their necks so high, that the seven of them hit the ground while groaning in pain and agony.
The pain was short and fast, but it was enough to render them to their knees and pant harshly, even after it was gone.
“So, that’s why we are all wearing collars.” Clint let out in a pained voice.
“Up!” Dark Bobby commanded harshly, eyeing them mockingly.
Panting, they all looked up at Dean, who was staring at the ground with wide eyes, looking almost defeated, before pushing himself to his feet. They all followed his lead silently. The strange prisoner with them was giving them weird looks.
“Go.” Dark Bobby gestured for them to keep walking.
They had no choice, but to obey.
They kept walking in a horizontal line, until they found themselves staring down at a long, deep ditch.
“Turn around.” The dark commander ordered from behind them.
They turned to face him, looking at him defiantly, despite their hopeless situation.
Dark Bobby walked towards them, stopping in front of Dean.
“I know you are not him,” He said as he eyed Dean disdainfully. “But I cannot stomach the sight regardless.”
With that he forced a black bag over Dean’s head to hide his face, before turning around and walk back to stand before the soldiers.
“Ready!”
“Guys, I am sorry.” Dean murmured from behind the bag in defeat, feeling his heart breaking apart. Castiel was going to die, and he won’t be able to even save him. “I couldn’t get you out of this. I couldn’t save Cas or Steve. I am sorry.”
“Not your fault.” Tony murmured, feeling a tear slid down his face. Realizing it was the end. He won’t get to see his husband’s face again, nor he will ever know what happened to him. “None of this is your fault. We failed together. We handle it together.”
“Erik is going to be so mad.” Charles chuckled bitterly, a few tears were running down his face. “I can almost hear his ‘I told you so’ from worlds away.”
“Seventy years later, and I will yet again die by Nazis.” Bucky murmured bitterly. “Ironic, isn’t it? Sam fucking Wilson will have a good laugh about it, after cursing me for dying.”
“I am going to die single, aren’t I?” Clint whispered in pure bitterness. “No one is going to mourn me.”
“I really wanted to marry your brother, Dean.” Natasha whispered, barley holding back her tears. “I really wanted to be your sister.”
That managed to break the rest of Dean’s heart and he could longer hold back the tears that decided to fall from his eyes.
“Aim!”
The sounds of guns cocking sounded loudly around them, as the soldiers raised the weapons at their faces, ready to shoot them to death.
And the heroes just stared back, accepting their fate with defiance on their faces.
A tense moment that seemed to last forever, as Dark Bobby raised his hand, ready to say the final order.
“Fire!”
The sound of hundreds of bullets rang through the wide, empty field.
***
The bullets ran down on them, but before any managed to touch them, the bullets froze in midair, then was sent back to their shooters, killing a few of them in the process.
They froze, heart pounding in their chests as they stared at what just happened, as a hooded man appeared from nowhere, holding a bow and arrows, and was shooting at the soldiers with accuracy that felt like he was controlling the very arrows themselves.
They couldn’t see the man’s face from his hood, but these powers, this ruthlessness, that physique and height. They will know it anywhere.
“Erik?!” Charles and Tony exclaimed in pure shock, while Dean removed the bag from over his head to stare with wide eyes at the chaos around them.
The hooded man startled a little at their shout and turned to them sharply, letting them see his shadowy face from under his hood.
“Oh, God, Erik.” Charles whispered frantically.
“About time!” the strange prisoner with them shouted in relief, making them turn to him in confusion.
“Kill them all!” Dark Bobby shouted, as he ducked behind a very frustrated Dark Steve.
“Take cover in the ditch! Now!” the hooded Erik shouted at them, before turning back to the soldiers, sending back the bullets they were shooting at them.
“You don’t have to tell us twice.” Clint murmured, while they all turned to jump into the ditch.
“Wait, we need to help him!” Charles exclaimed frantically, as he was forced into the ditch by Dean and Tony.
“He will be fine. You will just be a liability.” The strange prisoner said firmly, looking expectantly at the fight raging up there.
“Okay, seriously, who are you?” Tony asked in frustration.
“More importantly, is that our Erik?” Natasha asked carefully, hearing an explosion and the sound of soldiers shouting.
Before anyone could answer, the hooded Erik jumped into the ditch gracefully, landing lightly between them.
“You were late.” The strange prisoner reprimanded with a displeased frown.
“And you made new friends.” Hooded Erik retorted, as he used a key to remove the glowing collar from around the prisoner’s neck.
The moment the collar fell off, the prisoner’s appearance shifted completely in a familiar way.
“Raven?!” Charles uttered with wide eyes, as they all stared at the familiar, blue skinned woman.
“Wait, you two, are you-“ Dean begin to ask, but was interrupted.
“Not from your world.” Raven cut him off with a raised eyebrow starting to use the key that released her to remove their chains and collars as well, while Hooded Erik didn’t even glance at them, as he jumped swiftly out of the ditch.
They heard another explosion, before things went erringly quiet with a distance shouts coming from the camp.
“Let’s go. Move it.” The hooded Erik called out urgently in a firm voice.
The seven of them carefully got out of the ditch, taking in the scene.
The soldiers were scattered everywhere, some unconscious, some dead. A few feet away, they could see the unconscious bodies of Dark Steve and Bobby.
“Where are we going?” Dean asked carefully.
“To our base.” AU Raven answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Your base?” Tony repeated in confusion.
“Wait, so you two really from this world?” Charles asked looking disappointed.
“Just like you are not from this world.” Hooded Erik eyed them coldly, eyes lingering a little on Charles, before looking away with a deep frown. The sounds of shouting and gunfire were getting closer. “We can’t talk here. Let’s move.”
With that, AU Erik and Raven sprinted away in a specific direction. The six of them exchanged hesitant looks.
“We don’t have any better choice anyway.” Dean stated with a shrug.
That was enough. With that they sprinted behind the two mutants.
Not noticing the dark figure that slowly got to his feet and reached for his shield, eyes trained on them.
***
Castiel felt the weakest he had been for a long time.
He was pretty sure he was close to a human now than an angel. Trying to breakthrough the bindings was making him pant like he was running a marathon.
This was bad.
“You certainly looking more human now.” Dark Tony came closer to stand above him, an ugly smirk on his face. “Scared. Weak. Pathetic. I can hear your raging heartbeat. Try not to weaken it. That will put us in an awkward situation.”
Castiel’s eyes trailed over the Dark genius, stopping at his chest, where he still had the arc reactor over his heart.
“What the hell happened to you?” Castiel asked, moving his gaze up to meet the man’s eyes. Even his eyes looked nothing like the Tony he knows. Tony’s eyes always were filled with warmth and kindness. The ones he was staring into right now, they were cruel and cold in an unsettling way. “You obviously share the same past as our Tony. What happened to you that turned you into this?”
Dark Tony raised an eyebrow at him, lips pulled down in a deep frown that almost looked pained.
“We don’t share the same past.” Dark Tony spit out as he looked away. “Not completely anyway. I was kidnapped in Afghanistan and held captive for three months. That was the beginning.”
He turned back to Castiel, an almost crazy glint in his eyes as he leaned over the angel.
“When I came back, I was in a horrible state. Destructive. Betrayed. Unstable. Some called me war criminal even, after the news that the terrorists were using my weapons. I was scorned. Humiliated. Cast out of my own company. Everyone around me left me behind, no one wanting to deal with the human mess I became. I was ready to end it all. Relieve the world from the evil they kept seeing in me. End the monster.” He leaned more closer, his face almost touching Castiel’s now. “But then I met him. Dean Fucking Winchester. The real monster, the devil himself, disguised in the shape of a persuasive, vicious hunter. Do you know what he told me?”
He moved his hand to grip Castiel’s hair tightly, forcing him to meet his dead eyes.
“He told me since the world kept seeing me as a monster, then why not embrace it? Why not become the monster they all expect me to be? This is a cruel world. It will devour you if you are weak. The only way to survive, is to become crueler than the world itself. You know what I did?” a crazy, wide smirk took over the dark genius’ face. “I used the very suit I was planning to use for ‘good deeds’ and all that crap. I used it to get back what’s mine forcefully. I killed every single one who betrayed or turned their back on me. I enjoyed every second of it.”
Castiel’s heart was beating hard in his chest at the pure cruelty and venom that filled the man’s face.
“Dean Winchester made the thing I am now. I hate him for it, but damn am I grateful for that sick, cold bastard.” He let out a loud, unhinged laugh that made Castiel cringe.
“You might still be helped.” Castiel tried, even if he was only half believing his own words, but he needed to try.
“And become what? That pathetic version of me that you have here?” he snarled in disdain at the mention of Tony. “Giving his heart willingly to the one person Howard Stark tormented us with! To the perfect soldier who did nothing, even while he was supposedly dead, but kept reminding us that we are unworthy. That I will never be as perfect as he was. Well, guess what? That perfect soldier is my bitch now! And I will make all his versions, in all the worlds, my bitches!”
The angel tried to not let the cold shiver that ran through his body too obvious. He was staring at a deranged, unhinged monster that decided to follow a devil.
He was beyond help.
“Now, now, little angel.” He turned to him again, a sick smirk on his face. “Why do you need your heart anyway? It will only be broken eventually. I am saving you a lot of trouble.”
Castiel’s body tensed as he stared up the dark man.
“At least I have a heart.”