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The yellow-orange kitten at his feet was adorable, and very cute, but why was it here? There was no way Sam could explain this to Dean. At least he wouldn’t have to explain it to Castiel, because Castiel was the one who had trotted in with the kitten in his mouth by the scruff of its neck. Castiel now staring at him with his otherworldly blue eyes in the dark-furred face of his cat form.
It was a shame, really, that their familiar bond wouldn’t let them speak telepathically or let Sam get some kind of psychic echo explaining what Catstiel was thinking. “You know Dean will never let us keep the kitten. You don’t set him off because of not, in fact, being a cat. This little…” Sam picked up the kitten and looked closely. “Guy can’t say that.”
Catstiel shifted, taking on his human form. “Technically, no, he can’t, but I am hurt that you don’t have more faith in me than that. This is Jack. He is a Nephilim.”
Sam’s eyes widened, and he stared at the little kitten he was holding. The kitten – Jack – yawned at him and started to purr. “Why’s he a cat?”
“For the same reason I am – it helps keep him off the radar of both his angelic parent, who I will have to investigate how this happened because his father was Lucifer.” Castiel reacted quickly as Sam dropped the kitten, catching it before it could hit the ground. “Sam, this child is no more Lucifer than you are John Winchester. There will likely be commonalities, and Jack’s power level will be beyond anything I’ve ever seen once he grows into it and learns to wield it, but he is as much his mother’s son. Kelly was a good woman, and Jack imprinted on her in the womb. With you and I as his guides, we can overcome any of Lucifer’s nature that may be in there, as surely as you overcame the blood Azazel fed you and Ruby tricked you into strengthening.”
“I know.” Sam reached out a hand to the kitten. “Jack, I’m sorry. Lucifer and I have a bad history, and it was fear of him that caused me to drop you, not you. Will you forgive me?”
Jack crawled from Castiel’s hold to Sam’s outstretched hand. The purring resumed, and Sam pulled him in for a secure position against his chest. “So we’re keeping him off Lucifer’s radar. You said both earlier… do we need to protect him from other angels too?”
“Yes. Most angels who find out about him would seek to either destroy him somehow or turn him into a weapon in this civil war of ours. With Hannah’s help, I was able to fake a signal that the nephilim we all felt created had been destroyed through an abortion, so no one should come looking. As we’re already hiding from angels, I figured this would be the safest place for Jack to grow up, but no sense in not taking extra precautions by teaching him to take the form of a cat.”
“Right.” Sam smiled at the kitty, who had fallen asleep in his hand. “You know Dean’s going to tease us forever about our son.”
Castiel smiled softly, reaching out to run a finger over Jack’s head. “As long as you’re okay with it, I consider that a bonus. There are reasons why the Nephilim were destroyed all those years ago, so us having an actual child of our own would be a bad idea, but I would like to have a son.”
“What happened to… Kelly, you said? You used the past tense, so I’m assuming she’s out of the picture.”
Castiel’s smile dropped, a haunted look in his eyes. “One of the reasons why the Nephilim got out of control is that without the help of the angel parent sticking around and using their grace to help, the mothers rarely survived the birth. Nephilim can age themselves up within minutes of being born if they don’t have caretakers to provide for them, and with the human parent dead or dying and the angel parent long gone, they received no guidance and never learned self-control or ethics. I did what I could, but it wasn’t enough, given the immense power of an archangel’s nephilim. Kelly died within an hour. Long enough to get Jack to imprint on me as his caretaker and not force himself to adulthood prematurely, long enough to make sure that Jack knew she loved him and wanted the best for him, but not nearly long enough.”
“Then if you’re already his chosen father, I see no reason why Dean would have to be teasing us about our son. He is our son.” Sam jumped a little as he felt a rush of love from the kitten, a sense of euphoria mixed with gratitude. “It seems like he likes that idea. Let’s go introduce Dean to his nephew Jackitty.”