Chapter Text
Jack has noticed that Dean loves cars, and he seems to enjoy building car models too, he lets Jack watch his building and has even offered him to join if he wanted to, which Jack politely declined because at that point he was rather busy reading his angel lore books or drawing.
Jack understands that cars seem to be Dean’s special interest, at the moment, and he also knows that when people show interest in his fixations and whatnot he is always super happy about it, it makes him feel loved and appreciated.
So, here he is asking Cas if he could buy a car model for him and Dean to build together, as some sort of ‘father-son bonding experience’.
Jack sees Dean as his father, especially this past year, seeing that a little over a year ago Dean had taken him on a fishing trip where he taught him how to fish and apologized to Jack about anything he’s done to hurt or endanger him, and soon the apology turned to him telling Jack how he sees him as family and he loves him a lot.
Ever since that fishing trip he and Dean have gotten closer and closer, they usually pick up projects to do together and even have special shows that they watch just the two of them.
They watched a lot of different shows together, “The Mentalist” was the one they enjoyed most at the moment, much to Castiel’s dismay, seeing he said, Jack shouldn't watch crime shows just yet. They agreed to let him watch “The Mentalist” but also to wait til Jack was older to watch “NBC’s Hannibal” seeing how that show was a lot darker.
So anyway, usually Dean comes up with the projects or they find one together but this time Jack is the one to come up with an activity they could do.
When he asked Cas if he could help him find a cool model car that Dean didn’t already have, his father had of course agreed, and they had ended up finding a perfect one, as well as a second because Cas insisted on getting a beginner model for Jack to learn how to build with first.
The first one they got was a green ‘Ford Mustang 1970” and it was “expert” on the difficulty level, Jack liked the look of the Mustang and he thought Dean would like it too.
The second one was a light blue “Chevy Bel Air 1957” It was an easy build, Jack thought the car looked like an old man's car but he knew Dean liked the “Chevy” brand of cars so he decided that would be a cool one to get.
It was a Sunday evening when Jack decided to ask Dean if he wanted to build the models with him, usually on Sunday mornings Jack, Sam, Cas, and on an occasional, Dean would go to church, Jack didn’t know what he felt about religion yet, but he knows he likes church because he likes to go with his family and the loud music is comforting, even though loud noises usually don’t sit well with him (to say the least) its different when it was loud music its almost as if he can feel the tunes in his bones, and he likes that.
But anyway, it was storming pretty hard today, so the Winchesters will be staying in. Jack sees this as the perfect time to ask Dean his inquiry about the new activity he'd like to try with his dad.
There was a new addition to the bunker, a room specifically for Dean’s new handy hobbies, and that's where Jack finds him when he looks to ask him.
“Hey, Pa,” Jack said, taking a seat at a cleared-off table he usually sits at when he watches Dean’s builds.
Jack has taken to calling Dean “Pa”, “Padre” or even “Dad” at times.
It's a new development, it was awkward at first but now it's a little more natural (maybe not completely not awkward though).
“Hey, what's up chief?” Dean looked up from his crafting, smiling at his son.
“So um...” Jack didn't notice how nervous he was til now, a few different negative thoughts bubbling up.
Dean now gives his full attention to Jack, taking a seat across from him.
“You alright, buddy?” Dean has a habit of referring to people with nicknames, especially when he was worried, Jack has noticed it quite a bit in the past year.
“Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I just... Would you want to build a car model with me?” Jack hopes his facial expression matches his thoughts, he has been told and he has noticed he’s not very good at that.
“Are you for real?” Dean looked excited, at least that’s what Jack assumed. (He was right)
“Yes,” Jack said, looking and feeling a little nervous.
“I would love to! That’d be awesome” Dean practically has stars in his eyes, ‘not literally’ Jack thought to himself, and he pondered what it’d look like if he literally had luminaries in his eyes.
“Dad helped me pick out a model! Two actually, he said it’d be smart to build a beginner-level one first so I could get the hang of it!” Jack explained, and Dean nodded, looking happy as ever.
“So, what cars did you decide on?” Dean asks, and Jack supposes he should have led with that. Nevertheless, Jack doesn't beat himself up about it, instead, he quickly grabs the two car models and shows them to Dean, who immediately seems to like them.
“I chose this one because it's the “Chevy” brand you like, well I think you like-“Jack begins to second guess his bold claim but Dean notices and acts fast, “I love that brand buddy, that's what ‘baby’ is!” Dean said, referring to his Impala.
Happily taking the package of the car model, Dean checks the picture out.
“Damn, this was an awesome choice, Jack, this is a badass original model” Dean stated, giving Jack a high five.
Jack is happy with this reaction and cheerfully he shows Dean the more complicated model.
“I heard you mentioned that Mustangs were cool, especially the ones from the late sixties-early seventies. So I got this Ford Mustang, I hope it's one you like, I thought that it was fun that it is green!” Jack is a little more hyper and positive now, and less nervous.
After Dean assures Jack that he likes the cars, they get to building the models. They put a cassette in the cassette player and speaker set Dean bought recently. Dean chose to put on the AC/DC cassette he and Jack found recently at a record shop. It plays at a low volume, so it's not distracting but it’s loud enough for them to jam out to it.
They begin with the first model, which is an easy “click together, no glue, no paint” situation, Jack does most of it, so he can learn to build easy models, and Dean helps him when he gets stuck or confused.
“What does this mean, Dad?” Jack peeped up from his silent confusion.
“Which part?” Dean leaned over his son’s shoulder, as he asked.
“This,” Jack said, pointing at the picture where the build became a bit more complex.
Dean gave it a look and then showed Jack how to do it, it was an easy click together but Jack just hadn't aligned it right.
They continued to solve each questionable step until it was finished. They both agreed that they wanted to show Cas. Which ended up in them running giddily to show the angel their model.
Cas was busy looking awfully concentrated on the computer, his face practically only centimeters away from the screen.
Dean had tried to teach Cas to not lean too close to the screen but the man seems to get sucked up in his research and forget the tips his dear husband gives him to prevent his back pain.
Dean and Jack come running in, the same goofy run and almost goofier smiles. They are way more similar than most people would at first think, they have many of the same mannerisms such as their silliness when they get excited.
When Cas looks up from his computer, he immediately has that loving feeling in his gut and that adoring look on his face.
“Cas!!” Jack and Dean both said giddily, which Cas assumed they either had something to show him or they just both had the “zoomies” (that’s what they all referred to it as when any of them got hyper)
“Hello, darlings, what’s got you two so excited?” Cas raised a question, his voice though deep very soft.
“We built my first model car!” Jack shows the blue car to Cas, looking proud as ever.
“Woah! That's incredible, bubby, you did awesome!” Cas takes the car softly when it's given to him to look at.
“Jack did pretty much all of it by himself, too,” Dean said, proudly putting his hand on Jack’s shoulder, who smiled up at his dad with his sweet crooked smile.
“Did you have a good time building it?” Cas asked and Jack nodded happily.
“Mhm! My back hurts from standing a little long but it was worth it!”
Jack is making his happy little arm-flapping motion, which he usually does when he's happy, usually he’ll only do it in front of Cas or by himself but he's trying to be better about doing his little stims in front of the rest of their family.
Smiling at Jack with the proudest look, Cas wanted nothing more than to give Jack the biggest hug. If any outsider saw the way Cas looked at Jack in these small moments they would think the kid had saved the world or hung the moon and stars but no, Cas looked at him with that proud gaze for all his small achievements.
“Do you know where Sam is? I wanna show him the model!” Jack said, and Cas pointed towards Sam’s room.
“Uncle Gabriel is over so be sure to knock” Cas reminds his husband and their son softly.
“Ew” Dean grimaced (he wasn’t the biggest fan of Gabe’s) but Jack just nodded and skipped off to Sam’s room.
“How did he do?” Cas asked in a lower voice, and Dean smiled quite proudly, “he did great” Dean kissed Cas’s cheek and patted his shoulder before following his son happily.
Cas smiled at Dean fondly as he walked away, feeling both proud of Jack and Dean.
Jack knocked on the door as Cas suggested to him, and Sam told him and Dean to come on in so that's what they did.
Once in, Jack showed both of his uncles proudly.
Gabriel clapped softly enough to not be loud because unlike his nature he has learned to be a little quieter around Jack. making a little “wow” sound, Gabe seemed genuinely impressed.
“Y’know, Dean’s models are kinda lame but this, this is impeccable,” Gabe said, his little joking dig going right over Jack’s head as he let Sam hold his model.
“And you did this all by yourself?” Sam questioned softly, Jack shaking his head and pointing at Dean.
“Padre helped a bit, but this model was pretty easy so I did most of it!” Jack said, carefully taking back the model from Sam
After they finished that model they decided to stop for the day, mostly because Jack’s back was already super sore, so instead of building the other model, they agreed to go into the Dean cave and rewatch one of the Star Wars movies (Jack’s main hyper fixation at the moment) and eat cookies.
They both just watched Star Wars, Jack pointing out little details he found interesting, to which Dean just nodded and agreed.
Jack held his weighted dino plushie against his chest and slowly swung his legs back and forth. He felt safe, he was safe.
The next evening they get back to building, leveling up to the more difficult model.
Jack decided to wear his sky-blue “Impala” t-shirt, thinking it’d be cool to wear whilst doing car models. Dean followed suit, putting on the shirt he had of his car.
They returned to the “workshop” a few hours before dinner time and started up on the Mustang model.
This model was tougher than the first, so they had to read the directions a few times before doing the first step, figuring out that Dean should be in charge of the directions for they didn't make sense to Jack and only overwhelmed him.
They put music on again, this time it was the mixtape Jack made of his favorite songs, which contained songs by Coldplay, Flatsound, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and Bob Dylan.
Dean was usually not one to listen to these bands as much -other than Bob Dylan- but if his son liked it then he’d give it a listen (or several listens since he always encourages Jack to share music with him)
The build is going smoothly, Jack is doing well, only getting bothered when he doesn't understand something, and even then he just asked Dean for help.
Dean says they make a “damn good” team, and Jack gets very excited that Dean would say so.
When they have to wait for things to dry every once in a while they'll sit and either chat or just enjoy each other’s company.
Cas calls them to dinner, and they agree to pick up the rest tomorrow and call it a night.
Shutting off the music and the lights Dean follows after Jack who is skipping down the halls, Dean is happy to see him so joyful, it’s the least the kid deserves, some normalcy and excitement.
Dinner is pleasant, Dean and Jack telling Cas, Sam, and Gabe about the car, Sam talking about something both Dean and Jack didn't get, once they finished speaking and eating.
While washing the dishes and cleaning the table Cas told them about a movie he thought they could watch tonight(if anyone wanted to) which Dean and Jack both agreed to, seeing they both enjoyed movie nights in “The Dean Cave”.
The next day Dean and Jack get right back into the model building, They are pretty far into it and probably could have it wrapped up by sometime today.
As they are doing the model Jack starts to get upset about all the drying glue stuck on his hands, he's trying to remain silent about his sensory issues but his father notices his flapping hands and clenching his fists.
“Hey, you okay buddy?” Dean asked, cautiously.
But, you see, Jack didn't want to ruin their fun, so he just made a little hum sound.
Dean knew by the tone of the hum, Jack was getting upset, and he was going to burst soon.
“You wanna take a break?” Dean asked but Jack was shaking his hands and shaking his head.
“No. We are having a good time, I want to... I want to keep building it” Jack is getting rather worked up now, doing his “squinting face” where he squeezes his eyes shut and then back open.
Dean sees that his son is on the edge of having a meltdown so he simply begins to defuse the situation at hand.
“Let's take a moment, Jack, let's wash our hands off and take a break”
Jack agrees with that, and after they wash their hands very well they return to the workshop where Jack sits and draws out some “historically accurate” angels, as he did as a stim of his. Dean sat there with his son as he cooled down, with the lights dimmed, the door closed, and all excess noises turned off or canceled out.
They sat together in silence, Jack wearing his noise-canceling headphones, and tapping at the desk his sketchbook laid on.
Soon the quietness of the room is broken as Jack softly mumbles out “I'm sorry for getting worked up it just, it felt so sticky all of a sudden and then I just.. I was scared to ruin our time because it’d be fine if I was like everyone else and didn't get so..” Jack took off his headphones and was now scratching at his skin at a steady pace, his wrist already becoming red.
Dean took his child’s hands softly yet firmly, helping him stop scratching.
“Hey, you're okay bud, it's okay. I'm just sorry I didn't think about a break day, we have been doing this days in a row, I just, I guess I got fixated on building it, I'm sorry buddy” Dean has gotten like a thousand times better at apologizing the last year or two.
“It's okay... I didn't really want a break day, it's just that I didn't get a lot of sleep last night so I guess I was on edge” Jack said, wiping any stray tears from his face.
“Next time that happens you need to come and get Cas or me, okay?”
“Okay,” Jack smiled at his father, who smiled back and ruffled his hair.
“How did you know the glue was the thing bothering me?” Jack asked after a few moments of him drawing angels had passed.
“Well, when I built my first model, that required glue, I hadn't liked the feeling of the glue either” Dean shared, watching as Jack nodded at the information.
The comfortable silence filled the room once again, the sound of pen against paper rather evident.
“Can I draw on your arm?” If it were anyone else it’d be out of the blue but it's Jack, who’s constantly jumping from topic to topic without notice.
“Sure bud. How about you draw your dad’s “eyeballs and wings” form, hm?” Dean smiles as Jack’s eyes light up at the mention of his other father’s (close to) truest form.
“That’s an awesome idea!!” And with that Jack begins drawing on Dean’s arm.
The end, for now anyway!