Chapter Text
Mornings in the Mills house were calm these days. While Jody and Alex fixed breakfast, the radio playing the greatest hits of yesterday, Claire and Patience set the table. Potholders got tossed down in the middle of the table while plates, napkins, and silverware set in front of each seat. With summer finally settled into Sioux Falls, Patience was out of school, which meant Claire took her under her wing for a different kind of schooling. She was sure it wouldn’t take too long for Patience to remember what killed what, and maybe they could go on a hunt with Jody.
The thoughts were interrupted, though, when Jody’s phone rang loudly over the sounds of Martina McBride. She switched off the water in the sink and dried her hands as she answered the phone. “Hey, Dean! Good to hear from ya!”
Claire looked up, curious. Maybe Sam and Dean had a hunt they needed her help on.
“Excuse me?” Jody asked after a minute. That didn’t sound like a call for a hunt. “Uh—I mean, I guess? Are you sure you want to bring him here?”
“Who is she talking about?” Patience asked, leaning closer to Claire.
“No idea,” she said, shaking her head.
“Yeah, sure, okay…if it’s just for one night, bring him on up, I guess,” Jody said. She rolled her eyes and waited, and she gave a tight-lipped smile. “Okay, love you, but you owe me.” Jody hung up, and she groaned as she tossed her phone down on the counter.
“Who was that…?” Patience asked.
“That was Dean Winchester,” Jody said, exasperated. “Apparently the son of Lucifer is grounded because he stole Dean's car to go fight a vampire at a Wendy's drive through, so they’re bringing him here to keep him out of trouble.”
“Excuse me?” Claire questioned. How did any of that make any sense?
“Don’t make me say that again, Claire,” Jody said through a sigh.
“Why are they bringing him here?” Alex asked as she brought in plates of eggs and sausage to the dining table.
“Because Dean and Sam have a case about three hours away from here that Castiel wants their help with, and bringing Jack along would, in Dean’s words, ‘only reward the kid for being a brat’. So, they’re dropping him off here, and they’re going on the hunt,” Jody said. “They’re only about an hour and a half away, so we need to finish up breakfast, c’mon…”
“Can I go with them instead?” Claire asked.
“Absolutely not,” Jody fussed. Claire wanted to protest, but Jody continued. “I need you around because I need someone who can keep him here, contained, and out of trouble.”
“And you think that someone is Claire?” Alex questioned with a laugh. Claire huffed and rolled her eyes at that.
“Why do they just have the son of Lucifer?” Patience asked. “And how?”
Jody shrugged as she took her seat and fixed her plate. “When he was born a couple years ago, they took him in, and then Lucifer died,” she explained. “So, he’s their son, basically.”
“Oh my god…”
“I’ve been told he’s basically harmless,” Jody said. “Unless he’s mad.”
“And he’s grounded,” Claire said, kicking her feet under the table. “So, he’s probably pissed off.”
“We’ll worry about that later…” Jody said.
A knock on the door startled Claire upright, and she muted the TV while Jody hopped up to answer the door.
“Hey, Jody, good to see you!” Dean greeted as he went for a hug.
“I would say the same thing, but…” Jody still hugged him back as he scooted into the house.
“So sorry about this, Jody,” Sam said as he came in next and gave her a hug. “It’s been a rough two days for us, and then the case with Cas came up—”
“Don’t worry about, Sam, it’s fine,” Jody said. Then, behind Sam came in a boy around Claire’s age. Maybe that wasn’t supposed to be surprising, but it was…strange. Hadn’t Jody mentioned that he was only a couple of years old? “You must be Jack,” Jody said with a smile.
He didn’t say anything. He nodded, and he scowled as he made his way inside.
“Kids, what can you do?” Dean said with an awkward laugh.
“I’m not a kid,” Jack said through his teeth. He flopped down on the sofa beside Claire, arms crossed and eyes fixed on the coffee table. “This is so stupid…”
“You snuck out, took my car, and went to kill a vampire all on your own,” Dean fussed, finger wagging in Jack’s direction. “I don’t care that you’ve got powers and you can handle a fight, you still lied to us, and again, took my car—”
“You weren’t going out there!” Jack yelled. “There were people in danger, and you and Sam were just sitting there not doing anything, so I had to do something.”
“And do you wanna tell me why that involved my freakin’ car?” Dean demanded.
“I couldn’t just show up! I would’ve scared everyone, and I don’t want to do that!” Jack fussed. “I’m supposed to keep a low-profile, right? And not let just regular people know I’m not human?”
“Well at least everyone working there now knows you can’t drive because you scratched my car and hit the door on a lamp post!” Dean fussed.
“Okay, Dean, not again…” Sam groaned. He took Dean by the arm to pull him away. “Jack, we’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, okay?”
“Whatever,” Jack huffed. “Don’t come back, for all I care…”
Sam sighed, and he reached over to ruffle Jack’s hair. Jack didn’t move an inch, nor did he look up at Sam.
“And remember, just because you’re here and we’re not gonna be around to make sure you’re being punished, you’re not allowed to have fun,” Dean fussed. Sam started to push him toward the door. “No fun, you hear me!”
“Bite me…” Jack grumbled. Claire snorted a laugh at that, and Jody didn’t hide hers much better.
Once the door shut and the Impala started up, Jack sighed in relief. “I’m sorry about all of that, Jody…” he said with a shy smile. “It’s been a difficult few days…”
“I can tell,” Jody said. “Don’t worry about, though. Hopefully when they come to get you tomorrow, Dean’ll have all this out of his system.”
“Probably not, because there’s still yellow paint on the door,” Jack said. “He says I’m going to have to help him fix it when we go home, and only then will I not be grounded anymore.”
“You’re half angel, though, right?” Claire questioned. “Why are you listening to them?”
“Because it makes them feel better,” Jack said with a shrug.
“Well…while you get settled in, I’ve gotta get to work,” Jody said. “Claire, are you gonna be able to stay here with him?”
“Yeah, sure…” Claire said.
“I’m sorry that I’ve got to leave you like this, but I have to get down to the station…” Jody said. She pulled on her coat and kissed Claire’s forehead. “I’ll bring pizza home tonight, okay?”
“Sounds good!” Claire said. “When are Alex and Patience getting back…?”
“Alex should be back soon; she just went to check on a friend,” Jody said. “Patience should be home by four o’clock, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Behave, got it?” Jody tried, and Claire nodded. “No funny business.”
“When have I ever—”
“Claire.”
“No funny business, I promise,” Claire said with a sigh. “At least not until Alex gets home.”
“I’ll take it,” Jody said. The door shut behind her, and once her truck started up, Claire groaned and hopped to her feet.
“Why do you listen to her, if you’re an adult?” Jack asked, which caught Claire off guard.
“She’s like my mom, y’know?” Claire answered. “Usually she knows better than me, anyway. But don’t tell her I said that.”
Jack nodded, and he glanced around the house. He took in everything with a smile on his face, looking nothing like the angry boy Dean and Sam dragged into the house.
“How…old…are you, Jack?” Claire asked. The question needled in her brain from the moment she laid eyes on him, and it came out without much thought.
“Uh, that’s complicated, I guess,” Jack said. He pulled his feet up onto the sofa and crossed his legs, hands folded in his lap. “I was born in 2017, but I grew up very fast,” he said. “I guess I’m…around twenty? Sort of?”
“Uh huh…” Claire nodded, but that still didn’t satisfy her. “And why were you on a vampire hunt at a Wendy’s?” she asked.
“I made a friend, and she mentioned a very concerning customer who kept stalking her, so I tried to tell Sam and Dean about it,” Jack said. “They said it probably wasn’t our type of thing, just a creepy guy, so there wasn’t anything we could do. I didn’t want to accept that, though, because she was really nice…so I took matters into my own hands.”
“You didn’t even know if the guy was a vampire?” Claire asked. “What was your plan?”
“Get him to admit that he was stalking Maisie, and then get rid of him,” Jack said with a shrug.
“Holy shit.”
“When he was a vampire, that just made it easier,” Jack said. “It was all going well until I tried to leave, and I hit the door on the lamp post…”
“Do you even know how to drive?” Claire asked.
“Dean has been teaching me,” Jack said with a nod. “Though, I imagine our lessons are probably on hold right now…”
“Wow…” Claire said with a laugh. She flopped back down in Jody’s chair, legs crossed. “So…what do you wanna do since you’re grounded, and you’re apparently not supposed to have any fun?”
“Well, I have some ideas, but I don’t know if they count as fun or not…” Jack grabbed his backpack off the floor, and he reached inside. He pulled out a notebook and flipped it open to the last page written in. “I wrote some stuff down from a list about sleepovers; I’ve never really had one before, so—”
“A sleepover activity list, seriously?” Claire snorted a laugh. “Lemme see,” she said as she reached over to take the list. Pillow fight, mani/pedis, truth or dare, baking, never-have-I-ever, blanket forts… “Okay, no offense, because you just don’t know…but nobody really does this stuff at a sleepover,” Claire said.
“Oh—” Jack squirmed in his seat, a blush creeping up his neck. “What, uh, what do you do, then?” he asked.
“Mostly you watch a couple movies, eat a lot junk, and gossip until three in the morning,” Claire said with a shrug.
Jack looked disappointed, and somehow that disappointed face made him look like a kicked puppy. Claire couldn’t take it.
“But there’s nothing saying we can’t try the stereotype,” she said. “This is, like, movie stuff. We can do movie stuff.”
“Are you sure…?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, why not?” Claire gave him a grin and hopped to her feet. “Alex will be home soon, so we’ll have to convince her to join in, but it’ll be fun.”
“Okay!” Jack hopped up with a grin on his face. “What can we do now?” he asked.
“Ever made an ice cream sundae?” Claire asked, and Jack’s grin only grew wider.