Chapter Text
Taking on Chuck’s powers didn’t make Jack feel very different. He felt… bigger, almost. Like he could see further without squinting. He felt wiser, like new knowledge had been implanted into his mind. He didn’t know what it was- maybe he wouldn’t know what he knew until he needed to use it. But he knew it was there.
Amara was the biggest change. It was a rush, but then she was just... present. An essence in his mind, one he knew he could easily separate from. She didn’t seem to want out immediately, though, and Jack knew her power would help him bring everybody back.
They spoke during the car ride back to civilization, after leaving Chuck stranded on that beach.
Jack closed his eyes and found himself in a meadow, full of colorful wildflowers. Amara stood among them, looking serene. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Hello, nephew,” she said, tilting her head. “You’ve taken on my brother’s powers.”
“I have, yes.” Jack looked around. “Where are we?”
Amara shrugged. “Everywhere and nowhere. It’s a sort of dimension where we can communicate, just the two of us. That is, if you’re taking on my brother’s job.”
Jack hesitated. Was he? Could he be the new god?
“Do you think I should?” he asked, stepping closer.
“Somebody has to,” she replied.
“But… wouldn’t it be okay to leave the position open? So that everyone has free will?”
She sighed, leaning down beside a tall sunflower to run her fingers along its petals.
“The universe still needs someone to oversee things, Jack. You can be hands-off, learn from Chuck’s mistakes, but you’ll still need to be present.”
Jack reached to the side to touch a flower of his own, intrigued by how crisp and yet soft it was.
“Why does it have to be me?” he asked. The truth was, he didn’t know what he wanted out of life, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be in charge of everything. He knew he wanted his family to be happy, but that was already impossible. His mother was dead. Dean didn’t think of him as family. Sam always stretched himself thin trying to make sure everyone around him was okay, so maybe Jack leaving would help him feel better. And Cas… Cas was dead now too. Jack didn’t let himself dwell on that. He didn’t think he could.
“Because it has to be you,” Amara replied. “But you won’t be alone. I can help you. And I can feel that you're…” she let go of her flower to move closer to him, her eyes seeming to look right through him. “I know you’ve always wanted to do good in this world. Think of this as the opportunity to do the ultimate good, and bring peace and freedom to all.”
Your mother… She believed that you would do amazing things. She said that you would change the world for the better. And now, looking at you, talking to you- I know that she was right. That we were right.
“What do I do?” Jack looked at Amara, seeking guidance. She gripped his hands in her cool ones, holding their clasped palms between them.
“Just close your eyes. I’ll help you.”
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With Amara’s assistance, bringing everybody back was easy. And it felt right.
It was after he said his goodbye to the Winchesters that he started to feel uncertain again.
“Amara?” he asked, standing in the meadow once more.
“Yes?” she hummed, seemingly unbothered.
“What do we do now? Do we stay… like this? Connected?”
“For now. We’ll need to travel to the other universes, to repair the damage there as well. Some of them might be unfixable, but we have to try.” Amara tilted her head, eyes softening. “But there’s no rush. I know you have things you need to do, and you have to get yourself in order first. I’ll be waiting.”
Jack frowned. “You don’t want to go back to Earth and wait there?”
A shrug. “It’s peaceful here. And besides- we will finally get to know each other. Which, I believe, will be good for the both of us.”
He smiled. He was happy he was finally getting to know a cosmic family member. “Thank you,” he said, though that didn’t convey half of what he was feeling. He was just grateful to not be alone.
“Of course. Now, go and follow your heart. We have all the time in the world.”
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Jack’s heart took him to a familiar door in a barren hallway. He pushed it open, only a small breath of trepidation in his soul, and walked inside.
In this memory the sun was warm and bright, the grass green and vibrant. It was beautiful. But on the memory house’s steps, with a book in her hands, sat Kelly Kline. And she was even more beautiful than Jack remembered.
“Hello,” he said, waving. Kelly looked up, recognition taking over her face in the form of a wide, breathless smile. And then her book was abandoned on that green grass because she ran to him, and he ran to her, and Jack was hugging his mother desperately.
“Hi, baby,” she said, pulling back to look at him with her hands on his cheeks. “Oh, Jack, you look so grown up. Wait.” She stepped back, swallowing hard. Jack held on to her hands. “You’re not dead again, are you? You can’t be-”
“I’m okay,” he said, and Kelly instantly relaxed. Jack squeezed her hands lightly, trying to offer comfort. He hoped it worked. “I promise. I’m not dead.”
“Oh, thank god.” She laughed, a lone tear tracing down her cheek. Jack didn’t think it was a sad tear, though. “But, if you’re not dead, then how are you…”
“I have a lot to tell you, mom.”
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For someone who hadn’t grown up around the supernatural, Kelly took everything Jack told her in stride. She listened as they sat and Jack talked, the two of them still hand in hand. Kelly’s thumbs went back and forth over Jack’s knuckles periodically, and when he got to difficult parts of the story she tightened her grip ever so slightly. It was support Jack was endlessly grateful for.
“Well,” Kelly said, still in a little bit of disbelief. “Will you be back to visit? In between fixing universes with your magical great-aunt, of course.” She smiled, but Jack’s returned one felt forced. Now that he finally had time with his mother, he wanted to stay. And he knew that made him selfish, but that didn’t mean he felt it any less.
“Of course I’ll visit,” he said.
“And what about Castiel? I know he’d want to see you again.”
Jack ducked his head to the side, avoiding Kelly’s eyes. He’d glossed over that part of the story, not wanting to say it out loud.
“Jack? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
He closed his eyes, squeezing them tight. He didn’t want to cry.
“Cas is gone,” he managed through the lump in his throat. He heard Kelly’s gasp, and he forced himself to look at her, tears fighting their way through his eyelashes. “I wasn’t there to save him. I didn’t even get to say goodbye, mom. I-”
As everything he’d been holding down bubbled to the surface, Kelly took him into her arms. He buried his face in her shoulder, trying to breathe through the wave of crushing loss and tears that overtook him. It felt like he was drowning.
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, Jack. I’m here. I’m right here.”
Kelly’s hands rubbed at his back, and somehow it helped him to breathe.
He sat up, not knowing how long he’d been crying, and Kelly thumbed away another tear.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t want to waste our time like this. I just-”
“Shh. It’s okay. Sometimes you just have to cry it out." It was the opposite of the Winchester mentality. “It’s okay, Jack. I promise. I’ll miss him too, and I wasn’t as close to him as you were.”
Jack nodded. Bit his lip. “It’s not fair.”
“It never is.”
They sat in heavy silence, Kelly’s arm around Jack’s shoulders.
“I’m no expert,” Kelly said, “but can’t you use your powers to go and see him? Like you’re visiting me, now?”
Jack shot upright. It was like a lightbulb had been turned on. “I can. I can! Why didn’t I think of that?” He smiled, hope blooming like Amara’s wildflowers inside him. “I can do better than that. I can bring him back! I’ve done it before.”
He stood and started pacing around, suddenly needing to release some energy.
“Jack, slow down.” Kelly stood with him, walking a few steps so they were facing each other. “Don’t do anything reckless. I still need you to be safe.”
“It’s not reckless. I can fix it.” Jack pleaded with his eyes. He needed to do this. After everything Cas had given up for him, Jack had to take the time to resurrect him. And, beyond that, Jack just wanted him back. Why, why, hadn’t he thought of it earlier!
“Promise me you’ll be safe.”
Jack looked into his mother’s eyes, and some of the situation’s severity started to bleed back into him. She was right- this was potentially dangerous. Cas would want him to be careful. So would Sam, and Dean, and everyone he’d ever cared about. Amara too, no doubt.
But Jack could take care of himself.
“I promise,” he said. He meant it. “I’ll be right back. Will you be okay here?”
Kelly looked around, helplessly. “As okay as I usually am.”
“Good. I’ll see you soon, I promise.” Jack waited for Kelly’s stunned nod, before he willed himself to the Empty’s inky depths.
He materialized silently, mindful of the Shadow’s ears. And then he paused, unsure of what to do next. Did he just call out for Cas?
His wondering was cut short by a voice from behind him, one he’d worried he’d never hear again.
“Hello, Jack.”
“Cas?”