Chapter Text
Somehow Dean had managed to get up, get his ass in the impala and joined Sammy and Jack. Everyone was gone. They had tried to surrender themselves to Chuck, but the son of a bitch didn't take their offer to finally kill each other. For the first time, fighting wasn't an option. Chuck was too powerful and there were no other monsters left to kill.
Back in the bunker, Dean raided their whiskey supply. He felt too much and did not know how to deal with it, so he tried to drown his sorrow in cheap scotch. Sammy and Jack couldn't chase away the feeling of loneliness in Dean. Being near Jack actually made it worse for Dean. It wasn't the kids fault. Dean had forgiven him for what happened with his mother, but knowing Castiel made this deal to save Jack? It took a toll on him. Though the real reason was that he, for the first time in his life, had too much time to think. Castiels words still spun around his head. He remembered how he discovered Castiels hand prints on his shoulders all those years ago. This time the mark Cass had left was only a bloody hand print on his jacket. Cass thought he was worth to be saved, but Dean did not feel like he deserved it. Cass had seen that when they first met. The angel had looked so confused back then. More alcohol too numb his emotions and stop his brain from torturing him with more memories that made him feel sick to his stomach.
It was almost a blessing when he finally blacked out.
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They made it. Jack stripped Chuck of his power and then left the miserable writer at the lake. Dean was a bit surprised of himself, but as soon as Jack had absorbed Chucks power, the ever gnawing rage inside him began to fade. Not into nothing - looking at Chuck still pissed him off - but there hadn't been an all-consuming anger anymore. They left the miserable writer at the lake to live out his life as a mere human.
As Dean had learned that not the Empty brought back Lucifer, but Chuck. His hope had grown that Jack would be able to do the same. Maybe, maybe there was still a way to get Castiel back from the empty. Maybe everything could go back to normal. For that, the first thing Jack did after they arrived back in town was to get everything living back Chuck had had snapped away.
"Way to go. I mean it. Way to go." Dean chuckles. He was happy. They would all go back to the bunker together. Jack surely would bring Cass back as well, because that angel was a father to him. Everything would be awesome. And Chuck wouldn’t screw with his emotions anymore.
"So... does this mean you're the new... I mean, what do we call you?" Sam wasn’t quite in the celebrating mood Dean seemed to be in.
"Who cares what we call him? Look, all that matters is he got us back online!", Dean praised.
"Hey, what happened to Amara when Chuck...", Sam wanted to ask, but did not need to finish the question for Jack to answer.
"She is with me. We're in - harmony." Jack had a blissful smile on his face. The powers of the creator of multiple universes didn't came with universal knowledge, but Amara's presence had a calming and reassuring effect on the young Nephilim. She was okay with staying in the background, would help him whenever he needed it, but also reassured him that she would give him a slap on the wrist whenever she thought he’d make a mistake like his brother did.
"You gonna - come back with us to the bunker?" Sam asked, hesitant to get in a cheerful mood because he sensed the change in Jack.
"What do you mean? Of course he's gonna come back to the bunker. He's the man with a plan. He's top dog." Dean wasn't stupid, he got that something changed, but he did not want it to. He did not allow himself to reach that conclusion. Jack would come with them. With his new powers, he would save Castiel. Hell they could even go and look for Adam and try to build a real connection with him, if Jack had brought him back like everyone else who was on earth as Chuck pulled his snap attack. "He can do Whatever he wants now. Come on. You know what? We'll spruce the place up. We'll get some recliners. We'll get you one of those big-screen TVs.", Dean went on and at the same time walked a few steps away to incite them to follow him.
"Dean, I'm not coming back home. In a way... I'm already there." Jack had made up his mind and this decision was final.
"Where?", Dean asked, still refusing to realize what Sammy already expected.
"Everywhere.", Jack said as if it was the most obvious.
"So you are - him.", Sam stated.
Dean turned around and walked back to them. Torn back and forth. Dean didn't want to understand. Jack was about to bail on them. After all that they went through. Was there some rule that one had to become a jerk when having these god powers? He had fucking questions!
"I'm me." Jack shrugged, because it did not feel right to him to call himself God, "But I know what you mean."
"What if we want to see you? You know, or have a beer or whatever?" Sam had a feeling what the answer would be and that Dean wasn't gonna like it.
"I'm around.”, Jack answered and tried to explain as best as he could, "I'll be in every drop of falling rain, every speck of dust the wind blows, and the sand, in the rocks, and the sea."
"It's a hell of a time to bail. You got a lot of people counting on you, people with questions. They're gonna need answers." 'I need answers dammit!', Dean internally begged Jack.
"And those answers will be in each of them.", he answered resolute and without hesitation. None of the brothers expected that from Jack and they quietly let him continue speaking. "Maybe not today, but... someday. - People don't need to pray to me or sacrifice to me. They just need to know that I'm already a part of them and to trust in that."
Dean nodded. And only noticed it after the movement already happened. Something in that sentence eased the pain that was still gnawing in his chest. It felt like a promise. To Dean it seemed, as if Jack knew the questions in his head.
"I won't be hands on. - Chuck put himself in the story. That was his mistake. But I learned from you and my mother and Castiel that... when people have to be their best... they can be." Jack sounded melancholic. He loved them and would have loved to stay with them like he had been in his short lifespan, but he knew better and Amara agreed with his decision to take a step back. The only thing he did was to pull of all the labels Chuck had put on the Winchesters so they would fulfil his story. Sam was still Sam and Dean was still Dean, but without all the overdramatizations Chuck had added to his favorite playthings. Until now they had never been allowed to live through their grief and deal with it in a more healthy manner. Chuck had done everything to keep his favorites and shoo them in the direction he deemed right. Though Jack didn't want them to know, how deeply the former God had screwed with their thoughts and feelings and thus made the transition to remove Chucks interferences as smooth as possible and as slow as they needed to be. Amara wasn't fully on board with that, but she didn't intervene. After all, she wasn't unbiased when it came to Dean.
Dean looked away. Licking his lips absent-mindedly. Sadness tightened up his throat. He wanted to ask about Cass, but couldn't.
"And that's what to believe in.", Jack concluded.
Dean inhaled deeply. Believing was never his strong suit. That was Sammy's thing. But, after all they went through these past years, he trusted Jack. Maybe something good would, for once, just happen? Without them having to fight for it? There was still a good amount of doubt weighing him down, but in this moment he lacked the energy to demand more and so he choose to deepen that already existing trust for Jack and tried to believe. And that felt - not too bad.
"Well... I'm really as close as this.", Jack put his right hand on his heart and then lifts it in front of his shoulder like he always did. "Goodbye." One last time he smiles at the brothers who mean so much to him, who had their part in making him who he became, before he turned around, walked away and vanished.
Dean couldn't say goodbye. He wanted to. His mouth opened and closed without making a sound. Sammy would have heard that something was... not wrong, but… that something was up with him. And right now he did not want to talk about it with his little brother, who seemed okay with what just happened.
"See ya Jack.", Sam whispered with a slight smile.