The Quirkes of Magic

Seacht: Tombstone

"As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence."
-Benjamin Franklin
Once at the bunker the two began searching for more hunts to investigate once the boys got home in a few hours. Whilst searching Danny had fallen asleep and landed on Jack's shoulder. He didn't have the heart to move her, so there she remained until a certain creaking of the bunker doors awoke her from her slumber. Jack was typing vigorously as the ginger rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"How'd it go?" the nephilim asked, not tearing his eyes away from the computer screen. Danny let out a groan as she stretched her arms above her head.
"Well..."
"Guys, um..." Sam trailed, taking a breath.
"What's wrong?" Jack inquired with great concern. Danny sat up straighter in her seat in order to brace herself for whatever bad tidings her brothers had brought. Instead the older Winchesters merely gestured to a figure approaching up the steps. Castiel's angelic visage appeared before them and Danny froze. Tears welled up in her wide eyes and her lips parted.
"Hello, Jack." he greeted curtly and probably also in shock. "Hi, Danny." He smiled a soft smile at the teens sat together and he shifted his view down toward their interlocked hands. He concluded that was Danny's doing.
"Castiel?" Jack's face held a world of confusion.
"Yeah, it's me." the angel sighed.
"No." claimed the nephilim as he slowly stood, taking Danny's hand with him, "We burned your body, and what's burned stays dead. How..."
"Well, that's the question we've been asking." responded Dean.
"Jack... did you, uh... Did you bring Cas back?"
"I don't know." replied the nephilim, still in shock, "I wanted him back. I... begged for him to come back, but..."
"Well, here he is." Dean stated matter of factly.
"Because of me?"
"We don't know. We don't know, Jack. But we-we-we think maybe."
"Thank you, Jack." The nephilim released Danny's hand and steadily made his way to the angel, enveloping him in a much needed embrace.
"I missed you so much"
"We all have." Danny swallowed the flood of tears she wanted to pour.
"Come here, Little One." She sprinted at the angel and nearly tackled him in a hug. He chuckled at the girl's childish habit, "I missed you too. Nothing to make you feel at home better than a Danny Winchester hug."
     "I agree! Danny's hugs are the best!" Jack exclaimed.
     "Sam and Dean tell me you're doing well."
     "I am. I... Watch this." He turned back to the table and hovered his hand over the pencil. Almost immediately, it began to levitate a few inches off of the surface. "I can move the pencil. And... I found a case. Hunter's case."
     "What kind of a-"
     "Zombies." he stated, interrupting Dean's question before turning to Cas and whispering, "I know what zombies are now."
     "I let him watch a couple of episodes of the walking dead." Danny explained.
     "You see?" He showed them the computer screen.
     "Wait. Where'd you learn to do that?" implored Dean.
     "By watching you. And Sam. And Danny. Three days ago, a vintage pocket watch with a personal inscription was sold at a pawn shop. But when they went to authenticate it, they found out that it'd been buried with its owner... 20 years ago. And when they checked out the grave, it was empty. Which means..." he tapped a key on the keyboard proudly, "the dead are rising in Dodge City, Kansas." As soon as Danny heard the words 'Dodge City, Kansas' and looked up at Dean she knew what was coming.
     "Oh no." she sighed.
     "Oh yes, Punkin Pie."
     "Right. O-or maybe it's a-a grave robbery, but..."
     "Oh."
     "Yeah, but we should probably check it out."
     "Wait. Really?" questioned Cas.
     "Yeah, we've done more on less." both Dean and Danny claimed in unison. They side eyed each other quickly after. Danny knew all Dean wanted to do was play cowboy and kick monster ass with the team back together, but her focus was sighted on Jack. She didn't want to discourage him from finding more hunts or squander his curiosity. She wanted him to feel included. "Besides, Dodge City's kind of, uh, kind of awesome." Cas looked between Sam and Dean as if to ask if he was serious. "All right, well... three salty hunters, one half-angel kid, the dude who just came back from the dead. Again. Team Free Will 2.0. Here we go." Dean continued walking out of the library.
     The impala pulled into the Stampede Motel and RV Park. The warm Kansas sun shone down unto Danny's freckled face as she exited the crowded vehicle. The impala hadn't been that stuffy in a while, not that that was a bad thing. The motel was very Old West and she could see the appeal it had to her oldest brother. "All right, this is supposed to be the best room in the joint." Dean claimed as they strolled through the wood paneled walls. He unlocked the door to reveal cowboy heaven. The sight almost made Danny physically vomit. "Oh, ho. The Wild Bill suite." Dean laughed in excitement.
     "Wow." was all Sam had to say. Danny gathered he shared her sentiments on the room.
     "Pretty cool, right?"
     "Yeah... I'm gonna get Jack and I a separate room."
     "What's wrong with this one?"
     "Nothing... there's just two beds and a couch and unless you want Jack and I sleeping in the same bed toge-"
     "Nope, not happening."
     "Cool! Then you keep your cowboy ecstasy room and Jack and I get a normal room."
     "Fine, but Cas rooms with you."
"Got it." As she left she could hear her brother start fanboying over long dead gunslingers.
   Whilst at the concierge desk, Dean called her to hurry up, get her room, and take a shower, so they could go out for dinner. She did as she was told without any magical mishaps, although she was tempted to try her mom's staying jinx on the loose shower head, but didn't want to press her luck, and met back at her brothers' room. They pulled into a very Old West looking steakhouse. Danny didn't think she'd ever seen a place that gimmicky, and she grew up in New York. The wait staff were all dressed in cowboy attire and the walls were covered with more gunslingers and game. She figured when Dean went to heaven it would look like Dodge City, Kansas. They were seated in the corner, at a round booth this time with Sam and Dean sat at either end, Jack in the middle, and Danny and Cas sat between Jack and a hunter. A Winchester sandwich. Their waitress appeared before them in a very inaccurate cowgirl outfit and Dean didn't even start flirting with her until after she took their orders.
"He'll take a chicken and strawberry salad with an El Sol, she'll have a grilled cheese with wedges and a Coke, he'll have a kid's sirloin with chocolate milk, he doesn't want anything, and I'll take a prime rib with another El Sol. Thank you." He fired off their orders so easily it almost scared Danny with how ecstatic he was.
"And how'd you like it? You're steak, I mean." The waitress flirted, biting her pen. Dean just answered her and handed her their menus and a napkin with his number on it, leaving everyone stunned. He turned to the table once more as she left.
"Is this place incredible or what?"
"What?" Danny answered.
"I said, 'Is this pla-'" his grin fell as he realized what his sister had meant. As he sulked Danny couldn't help but laugh. She had missed this. She missed her goofy, hyper, older brother and it was good to have him back, because that broody, bitch baby from before was no fun. Dean's elevation in mood was thanks to Castiel, whom she was even more grateful to get back. He may be an cosmic being with little to no sense of humor, but he helped Danny break down the wall of Winchester angst on a constant basis. Without him that build up started to be too much for Danny to break on her own. Sure, she had Jack, but he hadn't been getting through to Dean until a few days ago. She had been on her own, and now, with this new development about her magic, she knew all of the goodness that was happening right then wouldn't last. As if reading her mind, Cas reached his arm behind Jack and placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her from her thoughts.
"Danny, are you alright? You've been quiet and you look lost." She lifted her gaze to see the others staring at her with concern.
"I'm good. I'm just thinking."
"You? Thinking? Do you need to see a doctor?" She went to throw a roll at Dean for making that comment, but Sam had swiftly removed them from her reach.
"What were you thinking about?" Cas inquired.
"How perfect this is. How much I missed my family." Cas squeezed her shoulder affectionately and Jack took her hand, which was a first. Sam leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to the top of her head while Dean smiled at her from across the table. It was then the youngest Winchester realized what she had been taking for granted, and it didn't matter what she could tell them, because they would always come back to each other eventually.
     "I thought you were thinking about what Claire said the other day." As soon as the words left Jack's mouth, both of their eyes shot to each other's.
     "Wha-" Sam was cut off by the waitress setting their food down. Danny immediately squirted ketchup onto her plate and chowed down, ignoring the looks she earned from her brothers and angel friend.
     "M ungy." she replied to their confused faces. Jack did the same with his steak.
     "M oo."
   The rest of the meal went as usual with Danny and Jack stealing bits of food off of each other's plates, Sam and Dean making jokes at the other's expense, and celebrating Cas's return by filling him in. On the ride back to the motel though, Sam continued the conversation.
     "What were you two talking about earlier? How does Jack know Claire?" Danny sighed knowing she could no longer avoid what she had been putting off.
     "While you guys were on your ghost case, Claire texted me and told me she had a hunt lined up in Stockton."
     "Stockton? That's basically up our ass." Dean interrupted.
     "That's what I said. Anyway, she asked where we were and if we could help her work the case. I told her you two were on a hunt and filled her in on Cas's death and agreed to help her out." Sam's eyes widened.
     "So you left Jack alone at the bunker?"
     "No, of course not! I took him with me. We took down a tiny vamps' nest and..." Danny paused, debating on whether or not the time was right.
     "And?" Dean asked impatiently.
     "And Claire got hurt, but it wasn't bad. She was okay to drive home and I got a fever, but Jack patched us up." She nudged her nephilim friend endearingly.
     "Really, Jack?" Sam questioned. Jack glanced at the ginger nervously.
     "All I did was follow directions. Claire made the soup."
     "Still, it meant a lot. To both of us. Me and Claire." Danny added.
     "Good looking out, kid."
     "But what'd she say?" Sam pressed.
     "Nothing, just that I shouldn't keep it from you." She spared a look at Jack and caught Cas gazing at her. She could tell he didn't believe her.
     "Well, she's right, Punkin' Pie. You should've told us that you two were going on a hunt, just in case something like that happened. What's done is done, but like I said at Mia's, you can't keep bottling things up. We're your family and we're here for you."
     "Thanks, Dean." she smiled.
     "No problem." They rode back to the motel in silence and Danny longed to kick herself.
   Entering their motel room, Danny immediately flopped onto her claimed bed as Jack turned on some cartoons. Cas strode in behind them. She was exhausted from the excitement of the day and all she wanted was a good night's rest, unfortunately that was not what fate had planned when it plunged her into darkness.
Danny's eyes snapped open to find herself in Gentlenesse once more, only now she stood in Fáilte Circle, the heart of town. Nobody was about, as to be expected, it was the middle of the night. Although the comforting howling of wolves and the light emitting from the butcher's farther along the road reminded her not all residents were so fond of the day. The street lamps and stop lights were covered with ivy and brimming with ribbon. The flower baskets were draped in purple and gold trailing begonias. Banners of rich violet were strung up reading, 'Welcome to the 253rd Annual Gentlefest! June 11-17' 'They always started decorating at least 3 days early, so it must be the ninth already' Danny thought. The darkness above was littered with gold, the fairy lights overhead masquerading as stars. She had always admired the way the fae would reinvent the term 'fairy lights' every year. This year they were just glowing, incandescent orbs floating overhead.
She was only a few feet from the edge of the husk of a stage. None of the chairs had been set up yet, but Danny felt glee at the sight of even more taped off sections of asphalt than ever before, still unfinished to accommodate the growing population of the town. She noticed the roads at all entrances of the circle had been blocked of by police barricades with only slivers of space left, as to permit citizens entrée.
To the right of her was the white, marble building of Towne Hall with the Gentlenesse Archives and Public Library at it's side. Across from it, in the circle, stood the beige brick of The Gentlenesse Police Department flanked by the fire department and the bank.
In the center of the circle sat the twenty-foot-tall statue of her mother carved from alabaster 153 years prior. Her arms were outstretched as if she was going to give Godzilla a hug. She wore a dress befitting a woman of her stature for that era. Danny remembered loving that dress as a child, as her mother still owned it. She was always reminded of Beauty and the Beast. It had a large skirt that was fuller in the back with a not-quite-off-the-shoulder neckline. Embroidered across the neckline and trimming of the skirt were velvet sterling roses. The dress itself was a pearlescent white. Now the real dress sat in a glass case in the Gentlenesse Museum of History and Magic. Her mother's statue's hair, that should have been pinned back, flowed loose behind her, the only thing restraining her red locks a single sterling rose. Her eyes were inset with blue labradorite. On her pinky was a giant replica of the ring on Danny's finger, made with the same stones and metal. The pearls round her neck an in her ears were also real and enlarged with magic. Exact, humongous matches. The sculpture was repainted thirteen years prior and the vibrant color made her mother look almost alive.
Standing on either side were two eleven-foot-tall statues of very similar looking little girls, each carved from the same material. The girl on the left had her face downturned with her right arm outstretched to the road as if asking one to take it. She wore a ruffled, lavender pinafore over a lacy, white blouse, lacy white tights, and black Mary Jane's. Her long red hair had been separated into two plaits and tied off with peach ribbons that matched the one around her neck. Her eyes were molded from blue fluorite. The expression on her face a genuine, closed-mouth smile. Even her nails were painted a soft peach.
   The statue to the right, however, had her left hand shot up as if reaching for stars. She wore an eggplant colored T-shirt, a pair of overall shorts littered with raspberry patches to cover tears, even the front pocket had been replaced with the rich fabric, all of this was paired with black, hiking boots and another replica of an amethyst necklace draped down her neck. The red hair that hung loose at her waist flowed backward in a braided half-up-half-down fashion. Her eyes were like her mother's and she smiled an upbeat, toothy grin. Her nails were painted a chipped black, in stark contrast to her sister's.
Danny hated that statue when they put it up. She didn't want to say anything, trying not to be rude, but it always made her feel incomplete. Like two vital pieces of her were gone. Her sister lived an ocean away and she would never, truly, know her mother. She knew she could never play any significant role in Lee's life, that she would always just be a cameo or an Easter egg in her sister's normalcy, and it never sat right with her. As for her mother, well, 700 years is a long time. A lot of different versions of one person can exist over 700 years. Danny never met the statuesque version of her mother, as depicted by most of the town, in art and history. Danny only ever got fragments of their lives, a few shards in a panoramic stained glass window. As she stared up into her own eyes she couldn't help but think, 'That was only the preamble. There's more to that story than a statue.'
Then Danny saw it. A storm within a storm. A billowing, black cumulonimbus veined in violet lightning floating toward Gentlenesse at a breakneck pace. It only gained in mass as it drifted closer to the heart of town, as it drifted closer to Danny. A bolt of vibrant, purple electricity was followed five seconds later by the roar of thunder. With every CRACK! it only moved faster. Any time an arc of power hit something solid, said solid would disintegrate. Danny wasn't sure if this dream was showing Gentlenesse in real time, but she certainly hoped it wasn't. Another bolt hit where her school was and she could tell by the dust settling that it too, had been demolished. As the cloud moved closer it struck Heart Park, successfully sending her childhood to ruin. One more CRACK! and the rehab was gone, then the recreation center, the police station, Towne Hall. Danny couldn't move, not out of shock or fear, she just literally couldn't get her feet to leave their place. She wanted to run, to warn people if she could, but the magic of the storm held her in place. A final blast of light shook the earth beneath her and vaporized the statue.
   The storm dissipated as rapidly as it arrived, leaving Danny Winchester stunned and alive. Even for one of her dreams that felt real, almost real enough to kill her. As she gazed at the expanse above her, the teen witnessed the, once dark, clouds dissolve into lavender cashmere whilst the golden sun lifted itself from the horizon, spinning the sky into cotton candy colors.
"Danny!" Her eyes snapped open to reveal Jack standing over her, eyes shining like miniature suns and breathing heavily.
"Jack? What's wrong?" She attempted to sit up.
"Are you hurt? In any pain?" His voiced was shaking with worry.
"No, why? Jack, what happened? Are the others okay? Are you okay?" Jack breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everyone is fine, Danny, but..." Jack removed a hand from her arm and brushed his thumb against her cheek. When he pulled it away Danny noticed the blood that it was coated in.
"Danny..." Castiel piped up from the corner whilst looking confused and concerned, "how?"
"You can't tell Sam and Dean! Please, Castiel, I'm begging you. Do not tell my brothers. I promise I'll tell them after this hunt, but for now they can't know. I don't want to ruin this for Dean." Cas just gaped at the Winchester.
"Danny. You were bleeding. You caused a Magic Storm in the middle of a hotel room. You accidentally set fire to the couch. You were barely breathing and your pulse was so weak it almost wasn't there. Jack says that this has been going on for weeks and you still haven't told your brothers?"
"It didn't start out this bad. It just... kinda... got worse."
"Danny, if you're cursed I'm sure Sam and Dean would understand. Who of us hasn't had a curse or hex placed on them?" Cas asked sympathetically. Danny gulped and glanced at Jack, who she could tell wanted to explain everything to Cas. After some silence and a deep sigh from the ginger, she finally spoke.
"It's not a curse or a hex, Cas. It's my magic." Cas tilted his head like he always did when he was puzzled.
     "Your magic?" he inquired whilst pointing at her, "Danny, I've known you since you were nine years old and you have never once had any magic. In fact, I seem to recall every time you did try to participate in a spell it either wouldn't work or went haywire. What do you mean your magic?"
     "Castiel, what do you know about my mother?" Cas's eyes softened.
     "Your mother was Ríoghnach Brígh Quirke, an 18th century composer and the most powerful witch of all time. She was born in Shannon, Ireland on April 17th, 1287 to Sionann Candace Quirke and Diarmuid Fionn Ó Dubhghaill. He was murdered while Sionann was pregnant with Ríoghnach. Four hundred and twenty four years later Sionann gave birth to a second daughter, also a witch.
In 1763 she emigrated to America in hopes of new opportunity, when she saw how terrible the lives of both monsters and certain groups of humans were, so she started her own town in 1764 near Watkins Glen in Schuyler County, New York. She decided to name it Gentlenesse. At first she just recruited witches and more civil, stable supernatural beings, but as time went on she began to rehabilitate more volatile and dangerous monsters and acclimate them into her human/supernatural society. It wasn't until the Angel Raids and Demonic Possession Period in 1812 and 1831 occurred, respectively, that the protective cloaking barrier was woven as to not permit holy or hellish beings into the town unless given express permission by a Quirke or the mayor, whomever that may be. Ever since then the only knowledge heaven has of Gentlenesse, New York became limited to which humans or witches are born and die and come and go. At some point the barrier limitations were extended to all entering without proof of residence, letters of recommendation, or a recruitment team.
Occasionally, Ríoghnach would leave Gentlenesse on business or vacation. During one of these trips to London for, I believe it was a museum exhibition, she met James Jay Atteberry, a primary school history teacher in Chelmsford. They had a passionate night of love making and nine months later, February 27th, 1999 their human daughter, Eibhlín Talullah Atteberry was born in Gentlenesse, New York. She appeared in her father's house in Chelmsford in order to be raised by him for reasons unknown to heaven. During those months she was pregnant with her first daughter, Ríoghnach was called in on a case a former resident, who had become curator of Bannerman Castle in Fishkill, New York, was having trouble with. That was where she met John Eric Winchester, who was posing as an F.B.I. agent. It wasn't until later, after they had participated in sexual relations, that Ríoghnach realized who he really was. She went back to Gentlenesse. Nine months passed and her second, assumed human, daughter, Dianaimh Gormlaith Quirke-Winchester was born on July 3rd, 1999. Then, July 3rd, 2006, Ríoghnach Quirke died via hellhound. That is all of the information I have on your mother." Danny blinked at him in response.
"You could have just said 'yeah, I know some stuff about your mom' and spared us the entire curriculum for 7th grade history. You know that, right?" Cas just gave her a deadpan look in return, "How do you know so much about my mom anyway?" Cas walked over to the sink in the bathroom and soaked a hand towel before striding toward Danny and gingerly wiping the blood off of her face.
"When you were eight years old I raised Dean from perdition. After meeting you for the first time, seeing how important you were to keeping Dean on the right path and how much you motivated your brothers, I did some studying. I found nothing about you before July of 2006 other than who your mother was and the day you were born, especially because I didn't know your real name. It wasn't until Dean told me why you were mute that I started researching your mother in heaven. And then, eventually, you started speaking again and you opened up to me. We saved the world a few times. I almost ended it. You and the others saved it again. Now, here we are." He finished cleaning her up and made her some coffee. "You don't have to tell me how or why this happened if you're not ready. I won't tell your brothers for now, but if we're going to fix this, we're going to do it like we always have. Together."
   Danny began to explain exactly how her magic returned to Castiel in full detail until a ping sounded from the computer.
     "Oh, wow!" Jack's eyes widened a bit and turned the screen, so his counterparts could see it, "I'll go tell them." Before Danny could warn him of her brother's wake-up-wrath he was already in the next room with her and Cas racing after him and calling out his name. Danny could really only watch as the scene unfolded in front of her. Jack began incessantly poking her eldest brother's arm.
     "Dean, Dean,"
     "Jack, I wouldn't do tha-" their angelic friend attempted to warn, but, alas, he was too late. Dean instinctively reached under his pillow and recovered his pistol to aim at Jack with a yell, startling the other snoozing Winchester.
     "No, no, no. No, Dean, it's me. It's me." the nephilim explained shakily with his arms up. Dean only squinted, and checked to see who else was there, spotting Danny and Cas in the corner before disarming himself.
     "Ah, hey." he greeted sleepily, "Who's making me coffee?" He proceeded to place his gun back under his pillow and snuggle up once more. Danny let out a sigh.
     "I'll go put on a pot." As she trudged over to the machine Jack and Cas exchanged, respectively, confused and exasperated looks.
   Dean groaned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes about an hour later whilst pouring himself some of the coffee his sister had made him. Sam was on the computer, gathering intel, and Jack and Cas waited for more news from Sam as Danny stood looking over his shoulder, now fully dressed. Dean let out another tired groan and the angel gazed at him with mild, but unsurprised, disgust. He leaned closer to the young nephilim.
     "I told you. He's an angry sleeper." Jack glanced between the two. "Like a bear."
     "Okay," Sam started, "so Code Three means an officer down. Looks like the victim was-"
     "Covered in bite marks. Like, from a zombie?"
     "Or anything else that has teeth." Dean added, crushing Jack's hopes and dreams and successfully receiving a glower from his sister.
     "Alright," Sam announced, "Jack, Danny, and I will hit the graveyard. You and Cas hit up the crime scene." Sam closed his laptop and Danny opened her phone and was about to check her messages, before the eldest Winchester responded.
     "Works for me." Jack and Cas rose to their feet, but Cas was halted by Dean pointing to his coffee mug. Before joining the other two in the hall, however, Danny hung back for a second.
     "You," the ginger jabbed a finger in her brother's direction as the boys made their way down the hall, "are not going to behave ridiculously on Jack's first find." Dean glared at his sister in offense.
     "What do you mean by 'behave ridiculously'?"
     "Dean, come on, I already saw the cowboy hat." The adult man sputtered with his words.
     "It's Dodge City, Danny!" He could tell by the deadpan stare she was giving him that his point had not gotten across. "It's thematic!" She spared Castiel an apologetic glance in advance.
     "Nerd." she muttered, turning out of the doorway.
     "I heard that!" She would have responded, but she was already halfway down the hall.
   Once the car was packed they headed back to their rooms, so the boys could change. Sam had handed Jack a tan suit and a brown tie with a white dress shirt and a matching belt/shoe combo. Danny was already in her F.B.I. gear. She actually kind of liked dressing up in formal clothing, it always made her feel more confident, so she usually had ton more 'F.B.I. clothes' than her brothers. On that particular sunny Kansas day she was outfitted in a navy, haltered bodysuit under a muted, light blue, high-waisted, pencil skirt paired with a blazer and a warm-toned brown, chunky belt with matching four inch booties. Her amethyst necklace lay safely in her pocket. The long ginger locks of her hair were twisted into a low bun with one loose tendril grazing her face. She'd even done her makeup, it wasn't much, just some clear gloss and mascara, but for Danny that was about as glam as she knew how to do. She pulled out her phone and checked to see if her teachers had emailed her. The only emails she'd received were about the graduation ceremony at the end of the next week. She was still bummed she would miss it. For all of his seemingly stupid behavior, sometimes Zumi had a point. They were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to kick off the next chapter of their lives together.
A knock sound from the door and the soft voice of the nephilim inside broke up her self-pity party quickly enough.
"Danny? Are you still there?"
"Yeah, Sunshine, you good?" Just as she asked, Sam had exited his room and shot Danny a puzzled look.
"He still in there?"
"You are not one to talk. You just got done yourself."
"Yeah, but I had to deal with Dean and his cowboy fetish in there."
"Excellent rebuttal, I retract my previous statement."
"Good. I'm gonna go start the car. Be there in five." Danny could tell he resisted the urge to ruffle her hair because he learned from experience that bad things happened to people who messed with Danny's hair. That prank war lasted about an hour after Danny joined in.
"Jack?" Danny knocked this time and was greeted by a cranky nephilim.
"Ties are evil and it's hard to keep track of buttons." Danny only chuckled and asked for permission to enter. When Jack gave her the okay she swiftly made her way over to him, and sure enough, all of the buttons were off or missed completely and he had knotted his tie in a loop.
"Is this why you never button your jackets?" Danny allowed herself to laugh at him for a bit, to which he pouted. "Danny, it's not funny. Sam said we had to be at the car in five minutes." The Winchester calmed herself and started re-buttoning his shirt.
"One, it's a little funny. Two, Sam will wait for us. Three, buttons can be difficult, so just start at the top and work your way down. I got you halfway, now you do the rest. And four, ties are evil, but strangling them doesn't help. Here." She started tying his tie for him as he finished buttoning and, within seconds, the fabric around his neck had become a perfect Windsor knot. Jack stared at her.
"How did you do that so fast?" She shrugged.
"Back home we have school uniforms, so I got used to it. We once timed it to see who was the fastest in the grade and Sylvia Villalobos totally smoked everyone, literally, her tie caught fire. It was awesome. Now, go into the bathroom and change out of your jeans. Remember to tuck your shirt in. Here's your belt. Sam taught you how to use a belt right?" The nephilim nodded. "Thank Chuck." she whispered.
"What?"
"Nothing. Go get changed."
"Okay."
He emerged from the bathroom a minute later. And Danny's first thought was that she was gonna have to take Jack suit shopping, not because they didn't fit or he didn't look good, she thought he looked great, she just absolutely despised tan suits. And she hated that he was changing her mind. He put on his shoes and his blazer and spread his arms. "What do you think?"
"The tan suits you." She stepped closer to him and buttoned the top button of his blazer and smoothed his lapels. He gazed at her quizzically.
"Why'd you only button the top button?"
"I don't know, it's just a thing people do." Then the door opened revealing a surprised Sam Winchester. A smirk then adorned his features as he looked between the two hunters.
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Danny now realized why her brother was smirking as well as how close she was in proximity to Jack. Her face practically exploded with pink.
"Nope, let's go, Jack! Saving people, hunting things, family business time!"
   The three hunters descended down the stairs of the mortuary to find the young undertaker dancing around a corpse to music that was blasting from her wireless headphones. Danny recognized that song as one a lot of the ghouls her age played at parties back home. She hadn't noticed them coming down the stairs, so Sam attempted to get her attention. When she finally realized she wasn't alone she jumped.
"Dude!" she exclaimed, taking off her headphones, "What the hell?" She started to take off her black surgical mask as Sam apologized.
"Sorry. Sorry, I-I didn't mean to sc-um, there was no one upstairs."
"Yeah, it's just me." She seemed annoyed by their presence. Danny couldn't really blame her, she'd be pissed if someone cut off her jams too.
"And you are?"
"Athena Lopez, undertaker. And you are?"
"Agent Elliott," the older Winchester falsely introduced. He produced his fake badge from his blazer as Jack wandered over to their left, "This is Agent Collins," he pointed to Danny, who also flashed her fake credentials before walking closer to the nephilim to keep an eye on him, "and that's Agent Paxton. F.B.I." Athena's eyes widened.
"They're F.B.I. agents?" she scoffed, "Did their parents sign permission slips?"
"They're trainees. Top of their class." She seemed to dismiss it while Sam continued, "Anyway, we're here about the grave robbery. You live on them premises right?" Danny spared Jack a glance and could tell he had spotted something by the way his eyebrows furrowed.
"All my life."
"But, according to the police report, you didn't see anyone that night."
"I was out. Amanda Palmer concert."
"Amanda Palmer?"Athena nodded. Jack and Danny switched places and the boy began asking questions. While he did that Danny re-examined Athena's desk.
"What about anything weird? Cold spots? Strange smells?" Sam cleared his throat to prevent him from further investigation. A good thing, considering the fledgling hunter sounded like he was reading off of a teleprompter. The only notable items on the desk were a funky, glass paperweight and a framed photo of Athena and a guy who was probably her boyfriend. She could've sworn he seemed familiar, but couldn't place his face, regardless he looked like trouble.
"I just said, I wasn't here." He clenched his jaw a bit in embarrassment.
"Right, we're just trying to figure out what happened that's all."
"You and me both. Look, if you guys wanna check out the grave the cops have it roped off. Over on the west plot."
"Great, thanks. Again, sorry." As the hunters took their leave, the undertaker turned once again to her music and cadaver.
   They were trudging through the cemetery when Jack pulled out the E.M.F. meter. Naturally, it started freaking out.
     "There's something here. No, wait, there." Sam started to explain, but Danny beat him to the chase.
     "Jack, it's a cemetery. There's a bunch of dead people and a bunch of dead people means tons of ghosts. E.M.F.'s basically useless out here. Plus, it wouldn't pick up anything undead anyway. That's probably what we're dealing with." They came upon the grave that was robbed and the casket had been exhumed to check what was missing. Sam began to examine it.
     "The police report said something about rats damaging the coffin." There was an enormous hole in the top of the box, big enough for at least a human, or humanoid, head.
     "That's one big rat." Sam commented. Danny had seen rats that size once, in the city. Her mother had taken her on her first recruitment assignment to rehabilitate a shapeshifter. She wondered how she was doing. While a New York rat absolutely could wreak that much havoc, they were still in Kansas, so Danny's money was on  ghoul.
     "Yeah..." said a puzzled Jack. Sam shut the casket and rubbed his hands together.
     "Alright. Here goes nothing." Sam walked over the police tape and jumped down into the hole. He dug around down there for a bit before finding the tunnel. From his mini-excavation he produced a human pelvic bone.
     "What's that?"
     "Leftovers." Danny announced.
   Back at the hotel room Sam presented the bone to their brother, who then gave it a once over himself.
     "Leftovers." Dean announced.
     "That's what I said." Danny complained.
     "Yeah," Sam continued, "bite marks. Looks like a ghoul."
     "I so called ghoul."
     "You said undead." Sam rebutted.
     "Well I was thinking ghoul." She stuck her tongue out at him, to which he rolled his eyes. Dean nodded in agreement, still in cowboy attire. Jack squinted in confusion. Castiel sighed, no doubt in exhaustion from having to deal with the eldest Winchester.
     "A ghoul is a monster that feeds on the dead. It can take the form of whomever they've eaten. Decapitation kills them." he explained.
     "Yeah, or bashing their brains in." Dean added as he tossed the pelvis, like a it was a bony bean bag, to the angel.
     "So like a... zombie shapeshifter?"
     "Pretty much, yeah," Sam answered whilst Danny gave a curt nod, "And he left tunnels all over that graveyard."
     "But if it could be anyone, how do we find it?"
     With a sigh Danny exclaimed, "To the traffic cam!"
     "You three smell like graveyard."
     "To the shower! Dibs!" Danny raced out of the room to get changed.
     "What does 'dibs' mean?"
     "She gets first shower."
     "Oh, so 'dibs' means no hot water." Dean chuckled at the nephilim and turned to Sam.
     "Maybe something good came out of separate rooms after all." To this the other Winchester agreed and started for the bathroom. "Now I don't have to wait for the water to reheat twice, so you can both wash your princess hair." Jack grinned.
     "Danny does have princess hair. Like Rapunzel, but red." Dean just stared at him blankly. "I'll go get Sam's laptop from the car." At his nervousness Dean cracked a smirk.
After showers had been had, the entire gaggle of hunters gathered around Sam's laptop to check the traffic footage.
"Can just say I'm getting real sick and tired of fighting things that look like other things?" Dean proclaimed.
"Maybe the ghoul is this Athena?" Cas suggested.
"Yeah, a-a-a-a-a ghoul who owns a mortuary. That's... smart, but-"
"No," the elder Winchester interrupted, "she's got access to the bodies before they're ever in the ground. Anything she wants she would just take, she doesn't have to dig'em back up."
"Right."
"Maybe someone close to her?" Danny offered.
"I think I found something." Jack started, "I tracked the plates on the stolen truck from the crime scene, and I went through the city's traffic camera footage, and look." he spun the computer to face the Winchester siblings, "This is it. From... yesterday, before the deputy was killed." All three leaned in to get a better look. Danny still couldn't see.
"Hold it, who's driving?" Dean zoomed in on the paused image and scoffed, "Holy crap. That's Dave Mather."
"Who?" went Sam.
"Who?"repeated Cas.
"By the way he's drooling, my bet's on dead cowboy."
"Dave Mather; cowboy, outlaw, one of the Dodge City Gang." Dean removed on of the photos on the wall and, before Danny could glimpse it, handed it to Castiel. "One of the greatest gunfighters ever. I mean he died in 1886, which makes this a little weird, but," he paused to wheeze a laugh, "mysterious Dave Mather. Lemme get my boots on." As he walked away his sister sighed in disgrace. "One of the best gunslingers ever. Whoo!" He retrieved their guns and passed them out like Halloween candy to his younger siblings. "So our ghoul ate some old west gunfighter and stole his face?"
"That's what it looks like."
"Hah."
"I think I've seen him before." voiced Jack, turning the picture to face the ginger.
"No, wait, yeah, the picture-
"At the mortuary."
"So that's-"
"Athena's boyfriend." they alternated and completed each other's thoughts in tandem. Then, righteously, they high fived.
The impala pulled back into the driveway of the mortuary and the Winchester brothers left to interrogate Athena, leaving Danny and their angelic friends in the car.
"Have you decided on how to tell them?" inquired Castiel. Danny took a breath.
"Well, I have to go back to Gentlenesse anyway to get my binding removed. I figured I'd bring you guys along."
"Are you sure that's the best way?"
"No. There are so, so, many things that could go wrong, but..." she looked past Jack and locked eyes with Castiel, "do you see any other way? Do you really think my brothers would let me walk into a town full of monsters, trust them enough to use experimental magic in me to remove the already experimental magic that's killing me slowly, and act like nothing happened when I come back with superpowers?"
"No. They would never allow that to happen."
"There might not even be a way to undo it, Cas. I don't want to die lying to them. I'd wanna enjoy my time with them in the place I love, with the people I love. Without secrets, without fear."
"You're not going to die, Danny." Jack stated, "I'm going to help you, like you help me."
"Jack, I already told you. That's sweet, bu-"
"No 'buts'. I would never let anything bad happen to you." The intensity in his eyes was like nothing she'd seen from him before. Sure, he could get intense when focusing or training, but this wasn't like that. This was... Danny couldn't quite place it yet, but for now she laid her head on his shoulder in appreciation. Sam and Dean sprinted out of the house and towards the impala.
They got in the car and all Dean said was, "Bank," and they were on their way.
Parking and the bank was scarce considering it was almost closing. The hunters removed themselves from the vehicle and Dean motioned for the others to surround the entrance. Dean stood front and center and clearly visible in order to distract Mather from the hunters flanking him. The rest of the boys were on the left and Danny took right. She angled her gun at the door and took off the safety. A man in a black cowboy hat and red bandanna walked out to find Dean Winchester.
"Dave Mather! Robbing a bank, that's a bold move." He aimed his shotgun at the gunslinger who only pulled down his makeshift mask and grinned.
"You must be the hunter."
"And you must like to play cowboy." 'Hypocrite' Danny thought.
"It's my favorite suit. Y'know, I like to keep a little piece of old Dave on me just to gnaw on." Sam cocked his pistol and Danny did the same. He laughed cruelly.
"That must make it two, four, five hunters! Whoo! Must be my birthday." Danny closed in and carefully joined the others.
"Look," Sam negotiated, "Why don't you come with us someplace else? We can do this quick and quiet." The ghoul pulled a gun on Dean, but the younger Winchesters were faster. Sam got a shot of in the ghoul's shoulder and Danny hit him in the thigh. Dean fired a shot, but Dave ducked as the Winchesters kept shooting. The each hid behind vehicles and the shootout continued. Danny got him in the leg again from under the car, but he still wasn't down, so they kept shooting. She noticed the guard and teller inside and hoped they were smart enough to stay in place. Next thing Danny knew was Cas calling Jack's name. He ran in front of Mather, next to where Sam was behind the car.
"Hey!" he yelled and the ghoul shot him twice in the chest. Neither killed him, nor did it seem like it hurt. Jack smiled at his own invulnerability and looked Mather dead in the eyes.
"What the hell?" asked the ghoul, angrily backing up. Just as Jack blasted out some angelic power the security guard ran out. It was like time had slowed down. Danny jumped up and onto the hood of the car, gun loaded, and bolted toward the men as both the ghoul and guard were flung backwards. The guard hit his head on the metal pole with such force Danny knew he was gone, but she couldn't worry about that as Mather got to his feet. She had to hand it to him, the bastard was fast. She managed to sink another shot into his other shoulder and chased him down an alleyway, Dean following immediately after. She was stopped short as a van almost hit her, allowing her brother to catch up. When they rounded the corner he was gone.
The hotel room was filled with hushed whispers as the adults chittered away near the door. She caught a few words, but it didn't really matter. Her focus was on the nephilim beside her. He had only let go of her hand once since they left the bank, and that was so he could change out of his bloody clothes, after that his fingers laced their place back in hers. Cas walked back over to comfort the nephilim to no avail, his grip on Danny's hand increased.
The car ride home without Dean was tense. Mostly because Sam and Cas felt the need to talk. She knew they were trying to help, but Jack didn't seem to want to talk. His grip was still clasped in hers. The thunder wasn't helping Danny's nerves. She was worried about Jack and Dean. Dean could handle himself, but in their line of work no victory was certain. Plus he was fighting that hour alone. He'd asked if she wanted to tag along with him, but she declined, her concern for her friend more prevalent.
"Jack, you, um... you okay?" Sam asked, but was met with no response.
"Jack," Cas piped up, "I've killed people... that didn't deserve it." There was a long pause as the angel tried to relate to his younger counterpart. "My friends, I... killed people I loved. I wish I could tell you that it- that it gets easier. That with time it hurts less, but that would be a lie because it- it never gets easier and those moments, they never stop hurting. But that doesn't mean that you should stop fighting. That doesn't mean that just because you made a mistake, and that's what this is, Jack, it's a mistake. That doesn't mean you can't- cant be better, do better. I believe that, I have to believe that."
"And we still believe in you, Jack." Sam added, "We, uhm-"
"Stop." the nephilim finally spoke, "Just, please, stop." This time Danny tightened her grip. At that Jack sighed and relaxed a bit as she rubbed circles into the back of his hand with her thumb. The rest of the ride home was silent.
A few hours had passed and the Sam and Cas were sitting at the conference table and Jack at the table nearest the entrance in the library, still attached to the youngest Winchester as Dean arrived.
"Hey." Sam greeted.
"Hey."
"How'd it go?"
"Usual. Killed the bad guy, saved the girl."
"What about the, uh-"
"Took care of it."
"Good."
"Good?" the nephilim asked, "How is that good? I killed someone." releasing Danny's hand he rose to his feet and walked to the edge of the steps. "What was his name? The guard. Did he have a family?" He made his way down the steps
"Jack, don't do this to yourself." Castiel warned.
"No, did he?" he insisted. Danny finally stood.
"Yes, he did." Dean answered. Silence followed Dean's words until Sam decided it needed to be broken.
"Jack, look, this life, what we do it's- it's not easy. And we've all done things we regret-" he stepped closer to the nephilim.
"Ju-don't." Sam put his hands up and backed off. "You're afraid of me." he stated. At that Danny lifted her head and it snapped in his direction.
"Jack, no." Cas soothed. He turned around, still not looking at the ginger and unable to face his family.
"No, maybe you're right." Everyone had different expressions, but the overall tone of the rest of the room was confusion. "Maybe I'm just another monster." Danny's eyes widened. She couldn't move, or speak, or think.
"No, you're not." Dean corrected, "I thought you were." he moved around the table to be closer to Jack, "I did, but... like Sam said, we've all done bad. We all have blood on our hands, so if you're a monster, we're all monsters."
"What you don't-" he took a shaky breath, "Every time I try and do something good people get hurt. I thought I was getting better," Danny knew where this was going. "but I'm not. I don't know what I am," She gripped her necklace and her ring started sparkling. "but I know... I can't make the world a better place. Not like this." She closed her eyes and let go of all thought. "I can't even do one good thing." She felt a familiar tug, but this time in her heart and concentrated on the power, on the magic that was burning and fighting inside her. "And I know that if I stay, I'm gonna hurt you..." It was begging to be freed. She gathered that power into her lungs, "all of you..." and outstretched an arm, palm facing the nephilim. "and I can't." She inhaled. "You're all I have."
"Jack, listen-" Sam pleaded.
"I have to go."
"No, Jack." Cas insisted.
"I'm sorry." Then Danny began to whisper. The others couldn't hear, they were too involved with what was happening with Jack, but then again, so was she. She said the phrase once. Jack raised his hand. She repeated it. Golden light shot the men backwards. "I'm so sor-"
"FANFAIDH TÚ ANSEO,
GO DTÍ GO NDEIRIM,
GO DTÍ GO NDEIRIM,
GO DTÍ GO NDEIRIM,
NÍ A THUILLEADH
ANOIS BEIDH TÚ
LIOM,
LIOM,
LIOM,
AGUS BEIDH AN BHEIRT AGAINN NÍOS LÁIDRE!
Here you'll stay,
Until I say,
Until I say,
Until I say,
No longer
Now you'll be,
With me,
With me,
With me,
And we'll both have gotten stronger!" It was eerily quiet after that outburst. Jack attempted to fly again, as the ginger had distracted him, but found he couldn't. He summoned his wings and a burst of golden light filled the room. Two shadowy wings were being held gently by giant, shadow puppet hands. The men in the room were filled with a terrified awe. The nephilim turned to face his friend.
"Danny?" Danny's eyes snapped open to reveal a swirling purple vortex, like a galaxy had been born inside her soul. She coughed up blood as more of the red substance began pouring from her eyes and dripping from her nostrils and ears. Then the bookshelves exploded and papers circled around her like a hardcover hurricane and she was its eye.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Wow, it has been a year since I last updated, so sorry for that. But with Supernatural ending my inspiration has resparked, with a little extra motivation due to quarantine. 'Tis coronatime. Welp, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
                                                  See ya,
                                                            Ash