Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kelly was sitting on her couch in her Heavenly childhood home, reading a book she never got the chance to read when she was alive. It was still all so strange to her how real it all felt, but she supposed being dead was as real as being alive had been; this was just the experience of her soul without her body getting in the way—or, at least, that’s how Jack had once described it. Pure. She was just purely herself. 

Jack appeared without warning. 

Kelly was not startled by his sudden arrival; she had become accustomed to him coming and going, since it was something he often did. 

She smiled while keeping her eyes on the page. "Hello, dear." 

Jack smiled then silently walked to her and dropped to the ground, sitting against the couch. He would visit her every night for dinner, and occasionally for when he needed to rest. However, he always came at night, and it was quite early in the morning, this time; Kelly had only gotten out of bed a few hours ago. 

Kelly eyed her son and his strange silence. She put her book down and gave Jack her full attention. 

"...Is it Castiel?" Kelly reached a comforting touch to his shoulder, gently rubbing his sleeve. 

Jack tucked his legs to his chest and folded his arms over his knees. "I miss him," he murmured.

"Oh, honey," Kelly wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head against the top of his, "I miss him too." 

It was bad enough that Jack had lost his father, but the circumstances that surrounded his death were something Kelly couldn’t quite comprehend; she imagined it was the same for her son, though it seemed to eat away at him in a way that was raw and personal… she just wished that  Jack could find some peace in it all. 

"I just…" Jack trailed off. He took a deep breath then continued, "I wish I could fix this, but..." he shook his head lightly. Tiredly. 

"But what?" Kelly prompted. 

"I can't interfere." Jack ducked his head into his arms, "It's the rules." 

“Put in place by who?” 

Jack turned to her, brows taut, “The angels?” 

“And who’s in charge of the angels?” Kelly prodded with a smile. 

“…Me?” 

Kelly nodded. “Yes, you, silly.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

Kelly took a deep breath. "What does your heart want?"

Jack took a deep, contemplative breath, then exhaled. "It wants him back… I just…"

Kelly let go of Jack and leaned back in her seat.  

Jack looked at her, puzzled by her silence.

Kelly turned and met his eyes. They looked at each other for a moment. A determination filled Kelly’s mind. She leaned forward, "Then go get him." 

Jack got up and sat on the couch next to her, “You’d let me do that?” 

Kelly let out a fond laugh, “Like I could possibly stop you.” 

Jack looked at her with questioning eyes, unsatisfied with her answer. 

“Of course.” She fixed his collar, “Just don’t do it alone. Ask the Winchesters, they’d—” 

“No. I—I couldn’t do that to them,” Jack looked off, thinking. “But,” he met his mother's eyes, “I  won’t do it alone. I promise.” 

If not the Winchesters, then—? 

“Who?” 

“Did Cas ever tell you about Claire Novak?”

Chapter Text

Claire sat at a bar alone. She had been waiting hours for her lead suspect to show up, but they never did. To say the least, she was disappointed. At most, she was furious. But all in all, she was tired.

Claire had waited until Halloween ended and all the fake monsters went away so she could go back to hunting the real ones. (Claire promised Jody years ago that she wouldn’t hunt around Halloween due to an incident that was completely not Claire's fault. Not at all.)

Huh, Halloween.

Claire hadn’t been able to enjoy Halloween in years. She barely celebrated it when she was a kid because both her parents thought she would get poisoned by one of their neighbors—not to mention they thought of it all as a bit evil. That being said, the Novaks had their own special celebration in which they would get candy, sit around the TV, and watch something a bit spooky. And every time, without fail, Jimmy would take her to bed and say a prayer for good dreams that were unaffected by the monsters . Ironic now, given her job of choice.  

Claire leaned an elbow against the bar, hand cupping her jaw, and took a long, contemplative breath. She was thinking about it all, and how fucked up her life was. How unfair it was.

How her two father figures both died bearing the same face. 

That... that’s just great.

Claire released the breath she’d been holding then blinked away her unwanted tears and scoffed at herself; she’d gone through it before. She’d lost her father, then her grandparents, that one fucker who tried to sell her to his dealer, and then she lost her mother, even Kaia. At that point, she was practically a pro at losing the people she loved... what's one more?  

It was just stupid to have felt like that—about Castiel. They barely even saw each other. They only texted, which Castiel wasn’t even particularly good at; all of them were filled with fucking emojis. But… he did save her. He cared when everyone else just wanted something from her. He and the Winchesters gave her a family again when they sent her to Jody’s. He cared. He actually cared about her when she didn’t even care about herself.

“You alright, ma’am?”  

Claire looked up at the bartender who couldn’t have been much older than herself.  

The bartender brushed back her long box braids as she leaned against the counter, “You’ve been sittin’ there staring off into nothin’ for the last half hour.” She spoke with a thick country accent that was like honey to Claire’s ears.

Claire forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m alright.” She finished off her (nonalcoholic) drink, then placed a fifty-dollar bill on the counter, offered a wink, then headed for the door.

The day had been a complete bust; the whole week really. The whole hunt was a huge fucking waste of time.

She reached into her jacket pocket, searching for her phone when she ran into someone who was entering the bar at the same time as she was leaving it.

“Oh shit, sorry.” Claire quickly maneuvered around the human obstacle, rushing to keep her face hidden. She didn't need to be recognizable, especially not as the girl who walked into people because she was looking at her phone.

“Excuse me—”

Claire kept her head down, ignoring the man, as she walked briskly to her car. 

The person, however, spoke again. “Claire Novak?”

Claire stopped in her tracks. 

Shit.

Shit. 

No one knew her in that town—let alone her real name—and that voice was not familiar to her. She set her jaw, then reached for her pocketknife.

Claire flipped her blade open as she swung around, blade first. She held the blade at the man’s throat.

The guy didn’t even flinch.

Claire felt a shiver go up her spine as she stood motionless, but she kept her expression controlled. This guy, whoever he was, looked familiar, but she could have sworn she had never met the guy before. He was some pale man—boy?— with dirty blond hair, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt that didn’t really fit the weather. 

“Hello,” he spoke up, smiling and raising his hand in greeting, “my name is Jack, and yours is Claire.”  

“Jack?” She eyed him up and down when the name clicked in her head. She dropped the blade, “Castiel's kid?”

Jack smiled, then nodded. 

“I guess that makes sense,” she mumbled. When she thought about it, Castiel had sent her pictures of his kid. And, sure enough, Jack looked like them. And like Castiel... so much like him—not even her father, Jimmy, but Castiel. It was strange.

Jack looked down at his feet, “I’m sorry to meet you like this, but I need your help.”

Claire narrowed her eyes. “...With?”

Jack straightened his posture and met her eyes, “I’m going to bring Father home.” 

Claire laughed, thinking he was joking, but his posture remained unchanged. Claire lowered her brow as her mind started to race; could Jack actually bring him back? 

“Wait, you can do that?”  

The little shit shrugged. “Maybe.”

Claire snapped her blade shut and stuffed it in her pocket, giving herself a moment to think. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, looking back at him. “Well, how the hell am I supposed to help you with that?” 

A ‘maybe’ was better than nothing.

Jack frowned lightly, “My mom said I could only do this if I weren't alone.”

“Why doesn't she help you?”

“Because she’s dead.”

Claire’s mouth slacked. “Oh… shit, I’m—I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I still see her; almost every Sunday.”

Claire felt a smile tug on the corners of her mouth, “So… you need a babysitter?”

“I need my family.”

Claire's smirk fell slightly. She looked away, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why didn’t you go to Sam and Dean?”  

“I…” Jack got busy pushing the rubble around with the side of his shoe, “I can’t see them right now.”  

Claire shifted her weight to one leg, thinking about what he said. The only thing she said was, “Family?” 

Jack smiled at her, “Yes. Family. Cas always thought of you as his own... Wouldn’t that make us siblings?”  

Claire dropped her gaze. Castiel really felt that way?

  “Cas always hoped we would meet,” Jack continued, “I only wish he were here for it.”  

“Me too,” Claire mumbled. She eyed Jack, taking in his posture, trying to read him. He looked tired; emotionally and physically. Claire knew the feeling.

Wait, could he even get tired? Question for another time. 

Claire sighed, then placed her hands on her hips, “Alright. What do we need to do?”

Jack lit up, then his expression grew serious as he thought for a moment. “I need to learn more about souls.”  

“Souls?”

“Yes,” Jack nodded. “The Empty wants Father because of a deal he made in return for my soul, but if Cas is no longer an angel, then he can finally have peace knowing the Empty will no longer have a claim over him.”

Claire nodded slowly.

“So, I’ll make him a soul—I’ll make him human. Then he can live the rest of his life with his family, and when he finally dies, we'll all still be together! I’ll never have to worry about losing him again. Does—does that make sense?”  

Claire shrugged, “Yeah, It’s kinda sweet... in a weird, macabre way.”

“Thanks. What’s macabre?”

Claire motioned for him to follow. “Morbid. Dark—C’mon, my car’s over here.”

[ … ]

Claire quickly opened her motel door, letting Jack in with the pizza she decided to get when she realized she only had one noodle bowl left (and she did not feel like sharing it). She checked the parking lot, making sure there weren’t any suspicious eyes watching from the shadows. She stepped inside then closed and locked the door.

“ Ugh , I’m starving!” Claire walked over to the table and placed a bag of dollar store goodies there.

“Did we get plates?” Jack asked.

Claire rolled her eyes, “We don’t need plates; it’s pizza. ” 

“You sound like Dean,” Jack laughed.

Claire rolled her eyes again, then began to empty the bag, handing Jack a soda that apparently Sam would have protested. What are older sisters for if not to corrupt the younger siblings anyway? 

Whew, she really was going to buy into the idea of that stranger being her weird, little brother, apparently.

“Oh,” Claire smiled as she slipped into her seat, “I also got you this.” She slid a Milky Way bar across the table.

Jack smiled thoughtfully at the candy, picking it up.

Claire placed her hands on her hips in a mockery of authority (maybe even Jody), “Now, don’t go spoiling your dinner.” 

“How did you know?” Jack asked.

Claire opened the pizza box, “Know what? That you like that nougat shit?” 

“Yes.” 

“I think Castiel said something about it...” Claire cleared her throat. “That’s the correct one, right?” 

“It is.” Jack set the candy aside, then grabbed a slice of pizza for himself. “Thank you.” 

“No problem.” After a few bites, Claire leaned forward with a devilish smile, “Thank you for this meal.” 

Jack looked at her with a bewildered expression, “What?” 

Claire held in her laughter as best she could, “I’m thanking god for my meal.” 

Jack rolled his eyes, “It was your money, Claire.”

“Yeah, well I’m hilarious, and this pizza is delicious, so,” she shrugged.

They finished their meal with pleasant conversations ranging from talks about favorite movies, departed parents, music, and finishing off with their favorite colors. (Claire knew Jack was technically a child, so she wasn’t sure what else she expected.) After they finished the pizza, Jack insisted on sharing his candy with her.

After all was said and done, Claire pushed herself away from the table, “Alright, Imma shower, then head to bed.”

Jack stood from his seat, “I’ll be back in the morning.” 

Claire scoffed, “Where are you gonna go?” 

“Uhm… I’m not sure. I think I’ll just wander until you wake up.”

“You can stay here, dipshit. There's an extra bed—you, know if you need to sleep,” Claire gestured to the bed that was still made.

Jack looked at it, then back to her. He gave a small smile, “Thank you.”

“Sure,” Claire grabbed her bag and left for the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Jack was awoken by the sound of an unfamiliar door opening. 

He was lying on his stomach, arms compressed under the pillow when he heard it. He didn’t remember taking off his coat, or shoes, or even going to bed for that matter, but sure enough, there he was. 

He wasn’t with his mother…

A surge of anxiety ran through him, as his instincts told him to reach for his archangel blade. Jack reached for his jacket that lay just beside him—

“Mornin’, Sunshine,” Claire’s voice broke the silence. 

Jack spun around and found Claire standing over him, a paper cup extended out to him.

She raised a brow, “You good?”

“Uh… Sorry, yes.”

“This is for you,” Claire extended one of the cups to him.

“Oh,” Jack took the cup with one hand and rubbed his eye with the other. “Thank you.”

“Sure.”

Jack dropped his hand away from his face, “What time is it?”

“Five.” 

Jack nodded and took a sip of the coffee. He grimaced down at the plain, black coffee that was far too bitter for him.

Claire took off her jacket and noticed his displeased expression, “There’s creamer in the mini-fridge. Sugar’s on top.”

“Thanks,” Jack got up, then walked over to the aforementioned spot. He grabbed the sugar and practically dumped it in to banish the bitterness from the drink. He tasted it after all the sugar melted and smiled.

“We should get dinner soon,” Claire siad. “I'm starving.” 

Jack almost choked on his coffee, “Five in the afternoon?!”  

Claire let out a laugh. “Yeah. You seemed really tired, so I thought I'd let you sleep. Kept coming back to find you still in bed. Considered poking you to see if you were dead, or something.” 

Jack slumped onto the edge of his bed and let out a deep huff.

“Wow, dramatic much?” Claire kicked off her shoes and relaxed against her bed’s headboard, “I called Sam, by the way. He’s digging into some of the lore on souls for us.”

Jack nearly froze as he took another sip of his coffee; he looked at Claire through his lashes, giving her a (slightly) skeptical look. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything about you.” Claire took a sip of her own coffee. “I also called Jody. She and Donna are also on the case.”

“Thank you—for helping and not telling Sam.”

“Eh, I’m not really doing any of the work. Plus,” she picked up the remote, “we get to watch TV while they do all the hard work.” She grinned over at Jack as she hit the power button. 

The TV came to life, starting on some pre-filmed football game but quickly changed as Claire looked through the channels.

Jack smiled as he moved to sit against his headboard to watch, as well. He hadn’t been able to just sit and watch something in what felt like decades.

There, they sat for about two-and-a-half episodes of the classic What’s New Scooby-Doo episodes before Claire got a text:

Auntie Don: Hey kiddo! We got some info for ya 

Auntie Don: [3 files attached]

Me: Youre the best. 

Auntie Don: Of course I am 

Auntie Don: Whatta you take me for? 

Auntie Don: Jody also says hi 

Me: hi, Jody. 

Me: thanks again Donna. talk soon 

“Check this out,” Claire walked over to Jack's bed and flopped down beside him, “It’s from some old witch’s book.” 

Jack looked at one of the pictures for a long moment, tilting his head slightly at what he saw. “Interesting…” 

“Good ‘interesting’?” Claire raised a brow. 

“It talks about the theory of the power of souls... which is true, souls are one of the most powerful energy sources in the universe. It’s one of the reasons Nephilim are so powerful,” he turned and met her gaze, “because I have both Grace and a soul.”

“So, it’s more powerful than Angel Grace?” 

Jack looked back down at her phone, “Depends, say if you— wait ,” he looked up at Claire, jaw slack, “That’s it!” 

Claire's eyebrows pinched together, “What?” 

“All I need to do is turn Cas’s Grace into a soul, instead of just completely making a new one! Then I wouldn’t even have to destroy his Grace and it would be more of him he got to keep!” Jack felt more awake than he had in months; he finally had some good news. “I’ll just need a little bit of an existing soul to jumpstart it.” Jack nodded to himself, “Yeah, that could work.” 

“Jumpstart it? Like–like a car battery?” 

“Yes, but it’s a soul.” Jack nodded, “Or, it will be.” 

Claire sat straight up, “And the Empty doesn't like humans, right?” 

“Hates them,” Jack nodded and let a proud smile stretch across his face. 

“So it won’t try to go after him again?” 

Jack nodded, “It shouldn’t.” 

“Holy shit!” Claire laughed, “You did it. You’re actually gonna bring him back!” 

“We did.” Jack turned thoughtfully to the ceiling, “And, we still need to figure out how to open the portal in the Empty, and how to—” 

“Shush,” Claire said firmly, “This is a win, dude .” She laughed again as she stood from the bed, “Not that I doubted you, but holy shit.” She cocked her head to the side, “That wasn’t so hard.” 

[ … ]

A few more episodes of Scooby-Doo later, Claire got a call from Sam. She put it on speaker so Jack could listen in; as a fly on the wall, so to speak. They sat on the floor between the two beds and listened to what the Winchester had managed to dig up.

Sam basically reiterated what they already knew. Blah blah blah, soul’s like a battery. They got it.

“Yeah, alright,” Claire said as she fiddled with her phone case, “Thanks, Sam.” 

“Anytime. Take care.”

“You too.” Claire ended the call, then set the phone down, noting how small Jack had made himself. He sat, knees up to his chest, arms wrapped around to hold them close. He closed his eyes every time Sam spoke, like he was trying to compose himself. She didn’t quite understand why Jack wouldn’t just visit Sam, or Dean, if he cared for them so much, but then again, he was going through a lot, so it was understandable.

Jack turned to her, “You're wondering why I don’t see them?” 

Claire looked at him with wide eyes. She cleared her throat, “Yeah… I mean, why won't you?” 

“To be honest, I’m scared.” 

Claire leaned back, “Scared?” 

Jack frowned as he fiddled with his sleeve, “Last time Father died, Dean was… different.” He closed his eyes as if the memories had attacked him. “He hated me. And I–I don’t want to see him like that again.”

Claire’s eyes wandered to the floor.

Jack shook his head, “But I know he’s mad at me because I’m mad at me. It’s my fault Cas is gone, and if I show up and give them hope just to let them down again—” 

“Hey,” Claire said lightly but firmly, “This isn’t your fault.” 

Jack dropped his eyes.

Claire sighed, then moved to sit beside him. She lightly elbowed him, “Come on, dude, you’re doing the best you can—and it’s damn well better than anything Dean or Sam have done in weeks .”

Jack shrugged.

Claire had always placed the blame on other people, she knew that about herself, but Jack had targeted himself. If she had seen the same blame in herself that she had seen in Castiel all those years ago, deservedly or not, she wouldn't have known how to live...

She hated the idea that that was how the inside of Jack’s mind worked.

Claire tilted her head so she could see his face. “Castiel would be so proud of you,” she almost whispered. 

Jack met her gaze. Claire felt like, for a moment, she could actually see him as the little kid he was on the inside.

“Do… do you really think so?” Jack asked.

Claire smiled. “Yeah.”

Jack returned the smile.

Claire’s phone buzzed. She lifted it and found that an unknown number had texted her. “Great. What now?”

UNKNOWN: You need knowledge about the human soul? 

Me: depends 

Me: whos this? 

UNKNOWN: What? Samuel never gave you, my number? Oh, please! If anyone is going to know something about the human soul, you may want to talk to the Queen of Hell. 

Claire frowned, “There's a queen of Hell?” 

Jack looked down at her phone, “Rowena?” 

“Oh shit, the witch?”

Jack nodded.

Me: what do you know? 

UNKNOWN: Well, now I’m not sure if I want to help you anymore. And to think that I was going to do something nice. 

Me: god youre kinda unbearable 

Me: but im sorry 

Me: i giuess 

UNKNOWN: Guess** 

Me: … 

Me: jack says hi 

UNKNOWN: The boy is there with you? Samuel didn’t mention that... 

Me: yeah well sam can’t know about that right now. 

UNKNOWN: Interesting. 

UNKNOWN: I’m in. Contact me in the morning, dear. 

“Uh,” Claire set her phone on the floor, “I guess Rowena’s helping us, now?” 

Jack smiled, “I like her.” 

Claire shrugged, “I guess if you trust her...” 

“Oh, no, no. I said I like her. I’m not supposed to trust her.”

Claire made a face.

Chapter Text

Claire bolted upright before she even knew what she was doing. In her rush to wake up, her hair did a commendable job of obscuring her face. Using her arm, she flung her hair back as she looked sleepily around the room. 

At first, she wasn’t quite sure why she had woken up. That was until all the lights, television, electronic clocks, and bathroom fan came on slowly, like a wave coming to shore, then dispatching just as the tide would until she was left in silent darkness.

Then it happened again. The power came back with a slowly rising hum, then faded, like a breath being held then released.

At first, Claire thought: ghosts, of course. And it all but confirmed it when she heard a voice accompany one of the reverse blackouts.

“You…” the voice said, “You can’t…”

Claire blinked as she listened, then she remembered she wasn’t alone, so she turned to Jack’s bed to see if he had heard it too—after all, it was coming from his side of the room. 

She turned to him, then realized it was him. He was talking in his sleep and making the power freak out; it was all just him, wasn't it?

The lights came back on and she could see his face twisted and tight, his hold on his pillow making his hands as pale as parchment.

Claire threw the blankets from herself, and jumped out of bed, racing the few feet to Jack’s bed. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him firmly, “Jack, stop!”

Jack opened his eyes with a sharp inhale. His eyes were a bright ocher, glowing in the dark unnaturally.

Claire pulled her hand away from him as she stumbled back a step. She hadn’t seen eyes like that before.

The lights settled and everything slowly went back to a natural darkness.

Jack blinked and the glow emanating from his eyes, too, faded away until both Claire and Jack were totally consumed in the dark room.

Claire reacted instinctively and turned on the bedside lamp.

Jack flinched at the light, then met her eyes with an almost frantic look before he gathered himself and asked, “Dream?”

Claire nodded slowly, keeping her distance, “Yeah…” She swallowed and stepped back to his side; close enough to retake his shoulder. “Yeah. Are you… okay?”

“Yes,” Jack breathed. “I’m—I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, just… it was odd.”

“Odd?”

“You’re,” she raised a hand and gestured, “Your eyes were, like, glowing.”

Jack blinked, “Did I scare you?”

“No. It… I just didn’t know that was a thing… you could do.”

In all honesty, for Claire, it scared the shit out of her, but she wasn't about to give Jack a complex about it. After all, Castiel’s eyes glowed sometimes, so it was logical to assume that Jack’s could, too.

“I can,” Jack eventually mumbled.

“Good to know.” Claire turned to her bed, then stopped. She knew he wasn’t alright, but she also had no idea how to help him—help anyone… Emotionally, anyway.

She decided to just ‘play’ Jody.

What would Jody do?

She turned and slowly approached. She tapped the blanket to make sure she wouldn’t sit on a leg, then took her seat. Face forward, she asked: “Do you want to talk about it?”

Jack turned, glancing beneath his lashes at her.

She turned to meet his eyes, “...What was it about?”

Jack silently dropped his cheek against his pillow, looking as hollow as a cave.

She nodded to herself, looking at anything but Jack. “So… Castiel, huh? I should have guessed.”

“You look like him,” Jack mumbled.

“He looks like me,” Claire snapped automatically. There was no real heat behind it, but she still felt bad right after saying it. She dropped her eyes.

“I know,” Jack said.

Claire shut her eyes and shook her head.

“Sorry. About your father,” Jack said.

Claire scoffed a laugh; she hadn’t heard that in a while. She turned to Jack and his sorry state, “Look at us. Pair of fuck ups, huh?”

“You didn’t get your father killed.”

Claire glowered. “Neither did you. Come on, you couldn't have stopped the Empty just like I couldn't have stopped Castiel.” She looked away thoughtfully, “Stop the decisions our dads made that took them away from us…”

Jack was silent for a moment. It was almost welcome until he broke it. 

“They’ll never forgive me…”

“Who? …Sam and Dean?”

Jack swallowed before he gave a pitiful nod.

Claire licked her dry lips, shifting where she sat. “Did you know I once hired people to kill Dean?”

Jack looked up at her, brows furrowed.

“Mm-hmm,” She nodded with a grin. “So, what I’m getting at is: if the Winchesters can forgive me for that, they can forgive you for Castiel making a decision for you.”

“You… how do you know about his deal?”

Claire looked down at her hands, “Dean told me. After it all…” She cleared her throat, then turned back to meet Jack’s eyes. “Anyway, I know it wasn’t your fault. Castiel made a decision, and we have to accept it.” She grinned, “That is, until we break his deal and get the fucker back, I mean. Then we can be mad at him all we want. When he’s here.” She shrugged, “It's only fair.”

Jack didn't seem amused the way Claire hopped he would have. Instead, he just buried his face in his pillow. “How did he die?”

Claire’s stomach dropped. “What?”

Jack unburied himself. “I know the Empty took him… but why?” 

He looked at her with such deep pain, Claire could almost feel it within her very soul. 

“Why was he happy to leave me?”

Claire bit the inside of her lip and said the only thing she could: “I don’t have the answer to that,” she whispered, almost ashamed she couldn’t give him the closure she wanted for years when her mother up and left her with her grandmother. 

She raised her chin and spoke up, her voice firm. "You'll just have to ask him when we get him back."

“What if I fail?” Jack asked, voice breaking the slightest under his muffled words.

“You mean what if we fail? Then we try again.” Claire leaned closer to Jack to make her point, “You’re not in this alone. Got it?”

Jack turned to her fully.

Claire poked him firmly, “Got it?”

Jack nodded.

“And we’re not gonna fail,” Claire said. “If you don’t stop with that self-punishing crap, I’ll suffocate you with a pillow.”

Jack scoffed lightly. “It won’t kill me.”

“But I’m sure it will hurt, you little shit,” she hissed, playfully.

Jack smiled lightly. “Maybe.”

Claire rolled her eyes.

She tapped the sheets before pushing herself off of the bed to head back to her own, “Alright, go back to sleep. Dream of, I don’t know, fucking Clone Wars or something.”

“I can’t control my dreams,” Jack stated, rolling to his side to watch her.

“You can’t?” Claire asked playfully as she fixed her tossed-away sheets.

“No. Can you control your dreams?” Jack asked.

“Just try.” She flipped the lights off and climbed back into bed.

“Goodnight, Claire.”

“Yeah.”

Chapter Text

“Shit.” 

Claire had been skimming the local newspaper hoping she wasn’t going to find what she found.

From the other side of the table, Jack looked up from the old book he'd been reading and over at Claire. “What is it?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. 

“Look,” Claire sighed and slid the paper over to him.

The large font on the front page read: ‘Local Teen Found Dead Outside of City Limits. Could This be Connected to Other Murders?’

“I was working this case before you showed,” Claire said.

Jack stared at the photo, “I’m sorry I took you away from it.”

Claire shook her head, “No, it went cold, like, a week before you showed up. I was hoping another hunter dealt with it... I guess not.” 

Jack stared at the paper, taking in every detail he could from the limited information.

“I know we’re kinda in the middle of something, but I feel like I should finish this. Find this ass-hat and end ‘em for good.” 

Jack looked up at her, unable to contain his interest, “You want to go on a hunting trip?”

“Not much of a trip; we're only fifteen minutes away.”

She reached over to the paper and flipped it to the other side, “This place,” She pointed at another article, “is the hunting ground.”

‘Yelena's Bar, now serving all (of age) college students a FREE drink! Come dance, drink, and meet new people! *Must have photo ID*’ 

Jack looked at Claire, “Is that where I found you?”

Claire tilted her head with an annoyed frown, “Uh-huh. It’s located right by the woods where the first victim was found.”

Jack frowned but was quickly swept away by the thought of going hunting. The chase. The capture. The being a good guy. Jack loved helping people and especially loved doing it with those he loved.

Jack pushed the paper aside, and then closed the old book. He smiled, “So, when do we go?”

Claire grinned, “Soon.” She stood, “But we’re gonna have to suit up.” 

Jack's brows pinched in confusion, “Suit up?” 

“This isn’t some trip to a convenience store in Lebanon, kid.” Claire walked over to the closet, pulled a blue dress out, and gestured at it. “We need to blend in with the youth.”

Jack opened his mouth in a silent oh. “What should I wear?” 

Claire walked into the bathroom, “I don’t know. We can get you something on the way.” 

[ … ]

On their way, Claire spotted one of those ‘warehouses’ filled with ‘men’s’ fancy ‘clothing’ and such things like that.

They walked into the store with the story they had come up with in the parking lot: The airport has lost his luggage and they’re headed to a wedding at 5 and he needs something nice, stat!

Jack was helped by a middle-aged man in a gray suit who spoke with a thick drawl of some kind. “You can call me Benoit. Now, son, what color do you prefer? Or should I say what color suits you?” the man laughed at his own joke.

Jack thought for a moment, “My father said blue’s my color,” he offered.

“That it is…” The man nodded thoughtfully, then raised a finger, “I think I have just the thing. Follow me, if you will.” 

And with that, Jack and Benoit disappeared to the back of the store. Claire made herself comfortable in one of the plush waiting seats. She checked her phone, then decided to busy herself by (finally) texting her sister, Alex, back.

“Still. Out. Of. Town,” Claire mumbled as she typed, “I’ll. Let. You. Know. When… done.” She sent the text off, then grabbed one of the wrapped candies close to where she sat and popped it in her mouth.

Claire’s phone dinged.

She checked and saw the Alex had responded. Claire checked the time and, yeah, she was probably on her lunch break.

Wolfie Sis: Still? Having troubles?

Me: no we just got a lead actually.

Wolfie Sis: We?

Me: im kinda busy here

Wolfie Sis: ?

Wolfie Sis: Alright. But in the meantime, I'm going to tell Jody you’re cheating on Kaia with a random woman.

Me: plot twist

Me: im with a guy

Alex immediately called.

Claire grinned at her phone before she answered. “Yo.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, “Who the hell are you with?”

Claire revelled in Alex’s confusion. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Claire, that makes everything seem ten times worse. Oh… is it Sam and Dean? Are you with Sam and Dean?”

Claire scoffed, “No.”

“Claire,” Alex intoned as if it were a warning.

Benoit cleared his throat, catching Claire's attention. 

“I gotta go—talk soon,” Claire hung up and made her way over to the man.

Benoit directed her attention to where Jack stood.

Jack was looking at himself in the full-length mirror, then he turned to look at Claire; his hands raised slightly at his side in a pose that said: how does it look? 

He wore a white button-up that was tucked into some dark blue dress pants with a matching blue blazer in the crook of his elbow. The button-up had the top two buttons undone in a “business casual” style.

Claire nodded with a pleased frown, “Perfect.”

“Really?” Jack asked, smiling. 

Claire gave a reassuring nod and an encouraging thumbs up. 

“I think you two look exceptionally charmin’,” Benoit said as he led them to where they would pay. 

Within no time, the two were back on the road.

[ … ]

During the drive over, Claire filled Jack in on the case. “Whatever has been doing this has its type.”

“What do you mean type ?” 

Claire opened her glove box and handed Jack the file she had been working on for the last few weeks. “All the victims have been college-age. They’ve all been found in the woods close to this bar where the local college kids tend to hang out. I’m thinking it’s a lone wolf. Literally.” 

Jack nodded, looking over the papers, “How many victims?”

“Six men, and one woman. Youngest was eighteen, oldest was twenty-five.” 

Jack shook his head, “We need to find it.”

Claire nodded, “We will.” Then, she felt a smile tug on her mouth, “Then we get Taco Bell.”

Jack smiled. “I like your plan.”

Claire sighed playfully, “Yeah, I’m kind of an expert.”

[ … ]

When they arrived, the place was alive with a bunch of people dancing and having fun to some upbeat song that rattled the woodfloors. The lights were semi-dimmed and the lights that were most prominent were annoying LEDs that hurt your eyes.

Claire found a spot by the bar for them to sit and wait for their suspect. 

“Ally!” Someone called Claire’s alias. “You’re back.” 

Claire turned to the bar with a smile, “Oh, yeah, hey!” 

The bartender from her last visit was there again.

The bartender, who’s name tag read as ‘Nat’, had a stiff smile as she glanced between the two, “Y’all look dashin’. What is it... date night?” 

Claire snorted, “God no.” She looked at Jack then back to the bartender with a laugh, “This is my brother. Uh, Jiri. Jiri, this is Nat.” 

Jack raised his hand in a still wave, “Hello.”

Nat’s smile returned, “Hello.” She shifted her weight to one leg, and looked at Claire before dropping her eyes and busying herself with cleaning a glass, “So, you don’t have a date tonight, Ally?” 

Claire pressed her mouth into a thin line, “Uh, my girlfriend's actually too busy with lectures to go clubbing with me… so I brought my brother.” she clapped a hand to Jack's shoulder. “How lame am I?”

“You have a girlfriend?” Jack asked.

Claire turned to him then frowned. Huh. How could she have not mentioned Kaia before?

“Yeah,” she pulled her hand away, “She's in community college right now. She's staying with my—with Mom.”

“Oh,” Jack breathed, understanding.

Nat smiled a bit sadly, but she spoke genuinely, “Your girlfriend sounds like one lucky gal.”

“Nah—I’m the lucky one.”

Then Claire’s eyes caught on a man, who just looked off, walking into the bar. He was older, taller, and alone. The man just walked straight over to the bar and sat there, watching the people dance. He didn’t even attempt to get the bartender’s attention for a drink. 

Claire looked back at Jack, seeing that he had noticed the man too. Jack looked at her and nodded in silent agreement. 

They had found their monster. 

Claire looked back at Nat, with a slight frown, “I’m sorry. I—I’m busy.” She grabbed Jack's shoulder and turned him away from the bar. 

“What’s the plan?” Jack asked.

“I got this,” Claire straightened her dress.

“Claire, I’m not sure if that will—”

“Trust me. Keep your distance and watch my back, I’ll get him alone so we can,” Claire ran her thumb over her neck, “you know.” 

Jack nodded, then walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

Claire walked over to the lone man and put on her best Barbie voice, “Hey, you’re kinda cute. Wanna dance?”

“Sorry, sweetheart. I don’t dance.” 

Claire’s smile stiffened and she really wanted to chop his head off right then and there, but to everyone else in the bar, it would be, you know... murder. 

“Really?” Claire batted her lashes, trying again. 

“Look I said I wasn’t interested in—” 

“Hello.” Jack appeared behind the monster. 

The monster spun around. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I had to say,” Jack gestured to his outer layer, “I like your jacket.” 

“Oh,” The monster looked at Jack eyeing him up and down, “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” Jack smiled as he leaned against the bar while keeping the monster’s gaze.

Claire blinked dumbfoundedly at Jack. Wha– where did he pull that from? Where did he learn that? 

…Oh, from Dean.  

The monster then gave Jack his full attention, “What are you doing here tonight.” 

“You know, meeting new people, having fun.” Jack smiled smugly, “What about you?” 

The monster tilted his chin up, “Same. Are you here alone?” 

“I don’t have any friends in town. I’m here for school.” 

“Interesting.” The monster bit at its lip slightly, looking him up and down once more.

Claire slowly backed up to give them space and just looked at Jack befuddled. Jack was acting smug and charming and what the fuck? She supposed he really was trained to be a hunter but… what the fuck? 

“Are you from around here?” Jack asked as Claire got back to the other end of the bar.

“Born and raised,” the monster said with a crooked smile. 

Jack raised his eyebrows, “You could... show me around, then?” 

Smooth, Claire thought. 

The man played with Jack’s collar, “Sure. Come with me. Now?” 

Jack glanced at Claire—she nodded—then turned back to the monster, “Okay. Sounds like fun.”

“Oh, I’m a lot of fun.”

The monster draped his arm around Jack’s shoulders and led him out, away from any prying eyes. Then, he took him around the building, to the back, away from the roads and just a few yards from the forest.

“Is this where you take your prey?” Jack asked, eying the location, no longer playing along now that they were away from prying eyes.

The monster smiled smugly, “You knew about that and still followed me? Foolish.” 

The monster showed its teeth and roared a loud battle cry. 

Jack just looked at him, unmoving and fairly unamused.

The monster stopped and made a face at him, almost like he was disappointed (he clearly liked to play with his food). “Why aren't you scared?” 

“Because my sister is behind you.”

The monster turned and— 

Claire swiftly swung her blade and decapitated the monster; blood spraying in the wake of her blade.

The monster's body smacked to the ground with its head soon following. 

“Creep,” Claire scoffed.

“He was a murderer, Claire.”

“ And a fucking creep. I really don’t like how grabby he was.” 

Jack rolled his shoulders back, “I did not like that very much.” Then he moved to grab the monster's feet. 

Claire rubbed the blood from the knife on the ground when she realized, she got blood on her skirt, and too much to blame on a nosebleed or even a menstrual cycle. “Fuck,” she grabbed her skirt. She threw it down with a stomp of her foot, “This dress cost the same as a decent fucking shotgun.”

“What blood?” Jack asked as he started dragging the body away by their feet. 

“Here, you idiot,” she gestured with her hand then looked at herself and… the stain was gone. 

She looked back at Jack with a smile, “This is why I keep you around.” 

“How nice.” Jack disappeared into the thicket. 

Claire tucked her blade away then grabbed the head and followed Jack to the woods where they would dispose of the body. (Something that is a perfectly normal thing to do with one's sibling.) 

It didn’t take long before they were walking back to the bar, leaving the body to be discovered by the police later on as just another ‘animal attack’.

Claire looked at the ground, and the bloodied drag marks, “Damn, that’s more blood than I thought we left…”

“The rain will wash it away,” Jack said. 

Claire frowned, “What rain?” 

A bolt of lightning lit up the sky followed by rolling thunder; a promise of rain, no doubt.

Claire took Jack’s arm and shook it, “You’re so friggin’ cool!”

Jack laughed as they made it back into the bar.

[ … ]

As promised, they got Taco Bell before they headed back to the hotel.

The hotel at the end of a corner road was beginning to feel like their safe haven. The flickering, old streetlamp that only offered a disgusting hue of yellow was like a welcome mat. The smell of stale coffee and cigarettes outside was strangely reassuring. It was a home away from home that Claire got to share with the brother she hadn’t even known she had just a few weeks ago.

They got back, and the two dapperly dressed siblings sat down on the closest bed (which was Claire’s) and began to eat their totally healthy meals while they watched the MeTV channel—which was their go-to food media/background noise.

“I had fun, tonight,” Jack said, unprompted really.

“Yeah?” 

“I haven’t gone hunting in... in a long time. I’m glad I could go with you.”

Claire looked at him and felt the sincerity punch through her. It was a bit too much for her, coming out of nowhere like that. 

“Don’t go soft on me now, kid,” she mocked playfully, trying to soften the sincerity.

Jack nodded with a smile, then brought his attention back to the TV as the show came back on. 

Claire looked at him for a moment, just being… thankful . She was glad that she got to meet that weird, half-angel nerd. And she was glad that she could call him brother. She was used to having random people become her family—mothers and sisters—but Jack was weirdly different. He was family’s family.

Ugh, maybe she was going soft.

There the two sat and enjoyed their re-runs of Get Smart and ate their dinner. 

Claire pulled out her phone and texted Kaia while she had a moment of calm.

Me: hey

Me: just wanted to remind you that youre pretty neat

Me: thanks for putting up with me

Claire set her phone aside, then leaned back against the headboard. Acting like she wasn’t waiting for Kaia’s response.

Her phone vibrated.

Ki-YA!: I love you too. Stay safe! <3

Claire smiled.

Me: for you?

Me: I guess

Ki-YA!: Dummy.

Buterflies filled her stomach; she really had fallen in love, hadn’t she?

Me: ill text you tommorow

Me: talk then idiot

Ki-YA!: OK!