[Open] Call Me Little Sunshine

[notoftheblood]

Who: Jack & various
What: catch-all log
Where: The Free cities, other locations will be added to headers.
When: Late November and December
Warnings: n/a, will update as needed!

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[outwear]

Sam, having spent so very much time in hotel rooms with local channels, feels very much like he's audience to an episode of Jerry Springer unfolding. He watches as Cas grapples with this revelation, the familiar catchphrase bouncing around his head: You are the father! He wonders briefly if Dean knows.

"Nephilim must age differently," Sam finally offers, oh so helpfully. It's not blind faith — can any hunter just assume familial bonds so easily? — but his additional thoughts might provide a little clarity to Sam's thinking: "He does look a little like you..." Both shoulders lift a hair right along with his eyebrows. There's a resemblance.

"Where did your mother live?" Shifting gears, Sam decides to focus on the only other piece of information available. Her name doesn't sound particularly familiar, but considering the number of people they'd met on the road, it's perfectly possible that one (or all three of them) had run across a (or the) Kelly Kline in their travels.

[notoftheblood]

He feels a little guilty but, it was for the best. It was what he always wanted. Dean wouldn't try to kill him for Lucifer's blood in him if he thought he was Castiel's child. Kelly had put all of her faith in to Castiel, and in turn Jack had done the same. He had spent many nights wishing Castiel had been his true father and as long as he played his cards right maybe he could fix that cosmic mistake and keep himself safe.

So long as he never shared what happened to Mary anyway.

He looked up at Castiel, the Angel clearly wanting Sam to say it's wrong. Jack's expression was closer to Castiel's normal default look than the smiles Jack usually wore. This city was emotionally draining.

"We do." He answered Sam when he spoke before looking back to Castiel, that awkward way of his own projecting. "I was born fully grown." Poor Kelly. "I am four years old as of May. And yes, Castiel, you are. I know it's probably weird, I'm sorry to be a bother." His birthday had been the night he was pulled from, honestly, but he'd keep that to himself too. Sometimes lies protect people.

He looked down a bit, awkwardly shifting a moment before looking back to Sam. "She was from New England, she worked in Washington DC when you all met her. I don't know a lot about her, I always felt safe with her but... I only had a video of her before..." He shook his head some. No, telling them he died and met his mother in heaven was just too much to share yet.

[unwings]

This is a lot. Castiel's struggling to keep up after that news, questions bouncing chaotically around in his head, but seeing the hurt in Jack, he swallows back on it. This boy's already been through so much. The first and most prominent instinct in him, knowing Jack is his child, is to protect, from all things. Including himself.

He failed Claire so profoundly, and now with his own son... He has to do this right, he must.

"No, Jack, you're not a bother at all. I was just, um, surprised." Cas inhales deeply, grounds and focuses himself, and brings his attention solely to the young man before him. Beyond the shock and confusion is a deep, personal joy blooming in his chest Cas can't quite find the words for, but the sentiment of family has never felt more real and true to him. He reaches out for Jack's hand and beams at him, each parts proud and awed. "Jack, it's incredible, it's miraculous to be meeting you here, I don't— It's nothing I ever expected, but I am beyond grateful for it."

The information about Kelly Kline is a new level of baffling, but he's not about to pick his son's brain to resurface all the trauma of losing a mother just for the sake of satisfying questions that have no real impact on the present moment.

"Please know you will be safe here. This new world can be frightening and confusing, but you'll always have your home with us." Cas glances back to Sam, hoping he gets the whole 'let's not overload this four-year-old super being with an interrogation right now' approach. "Arrival is a stressful process. Let's leave the questions for now and find you a room. Alright?"

[outwear]

Trusting Castiel to gather the bulk of information over time and disseminate it as he feels appropriate, Sam acquiesces to the suggestion and smiles tightly. Dipping his head, he can't help but wonder what the angel might be thinking — a surprise four-year-old is a shock in of itself — and as he gets the sense things are moving on, by way of support, he offers what he can to them both:

"We'll catch up more when everyone's settled in," he agrees. "But it's good to meet you, Jack. Welcome to the family," Sam adds, entirely unwitting of the fact that this perception of his instant approval of this stranger will only cast him as a hypocrite soon enough. For now, he boldly accepts Jack's proximity, even if he doesn't necessarily feel comfortable with the void of information yet to be filled.

[notoftheblood]

Jack's expression hadn't changed much until Castiel took his hand. Then he smiled, a bright smile that reached his eyes. He'd done it. He had his family back, even if they didn't know him, or all he had done, or they had experienced together, that was okay. This was fine. "Thank you." He spoke lightly. That awkward nature showing again.

"I will try to not let you down, I am happy to be here with you all. You're my family." His eyes went to Sam then, still feeling happy from all of this. Everything else he could dwell on once he could be by himself. "Thank you, Sam. It means a lot." It did, Sam had always been kind to him, even when things were very bad Sam did his best to keep the peace and Jack could never think him enough.

Sam had been the first human he saw when he was born.

"I do admit, I feel... strange." He admitted. "I can't use my power, but they said that is normal. I think I may just be tired. I saw Dean and Jo earlier. I had never met Jo before... Settling in sounds good."