DEAR JACK,
Anger is all I feel lately.
Not even the loneliness can take it all away.
Goodbyes are harder when you fear they won't stay.
Emotions should only be for those who care,
Love is something I want to refuse to feel.
❂
IT HAD BEEN QUITE A WHILE SINCE THE WINCHESTERS HAD SEEN THE PROPHET DONATELLO. The last they had seen him was when God and The Darkness had made Earth their ground to sort out their own issues. Now Donatello had sat upon the couch with his hand placed over his chest as he breathed deeply, attempting to sort himself out.
"You okay?" Sam asked the man, watching him carefully. Just the thought of possibly being okay had caused Donatello to begin to fan himself with his hat, letting a loud sigh escape from his lips.
"Ah, pretty much. No soul of course, thanks to Amara. It's kind of like losing your appendix. You never really notice it when you had it," he groaned slightly, shifting around until he had grown comfortable. "But now, when I come to a moral crossroad, I ask myself— What would Mr. Rogers do? And as soon as I nail that, I'm usually good."
Pressing his lips into a fine line, Dean held in his annoyance towards Donatello. For once, he had wanted someone to be straight with him and not have him grind his teeth together. "Why are you here?"
This had struck Donatello. After discovering that God had truly existed, he had felt as if his life had taken a completely different direction. "Yes, that is the question we all must ask."
Seeing that Deans anger begin to rise further than it had before caused Jack and Rose to turn to one another. It was just like Donatello to get on Deans nerves when he was in a tough spot and about to blow up on anyone that got in his path.
"Why are you in Wyoming?" Dean asked loudly, hoping for an actual response.
"After God left, I said to myself— Donatello, you are so retired. I mean, who needs a prophet of God when there is no God? So a few days ago, I'm online, checking out condos in Boca, and I am knocked off my feet by this weird wave of power. Not exactly like God's. More like... something new, something fresh. I was drawn to it here."
His eyes shifted across the room at each one of them before they landed on Rose. "Not you. Your powers... I can't feel them anymore. There's no darkness around you." Hearing this, Jack turned over to her curiously. He looked her over wondering what possible sense of darkness could be surrounding her ever. It was a reminder that had really had no idea who the people were that had protected him.
Donatello sat up straighter as he had felt the wave of power so close. It was almost magical to feel it right before him. It wasn't God— but it felt right. His eyes had shifted over towards the boy that Rose had sat next to and this had caused his eyes to grow wide. "It's you. Who are you?"
Unsure how to handle Donatello, Jack turned to Rose with his brows knitted together. That's when he had remembered that he had failed the first time he was supposed to introduce himself to her. Clearing his throat, he looked to Donatello with ease. "I'm Jack."
"Jack is a nephilim," Sam said quietly.
Overcome with emotion from the news, Donatello gasped lightly. "A child of a human and an angel."
"Archangel, actually. Lucifer," Sam filled in.
Seeing the look of confusion that had came to Jacks face, Rose felt that he had needed some guidance on understanding what was happening. Lightly nudging him, she scooted closer to keep the conversation just between the two. "Donatello is a prophet. He has, like, a direct line to God and Heaven. He's sort of weird."
"Sort of?" Be questioned back suspiciously. He wasn't trying to be funny— he had truly thought that Donatello was the strangest person they had come across which was saying a lot. But when a laugh had escaped Roses lips, he couldn't help but glow at the thought.
"Guess more like super weird. I try to ignore him."
When Donatello had stood up from the couch, the two had broke apart. "Look at you. The waves of power... so intense."
"Maybe less human than we thought," Dean mumbled harshly.
"You know, I've met your father. Your powers nothing like his. Not dark, not toxic." Feeling pleased that Jack seemed to be no harm to him, Donatello exhaled sharply from pure relief. Catching sight of Rose beside Jack, he gave her a smile, "And your father! How is he?"
It was as if a switch had been flipped on Rose. One second she had been smiling at Jack, knowing it was a relief to them all that he had been nothing but good. But at the mention of Crowley, her smile had faded and the pit in her stomach had only grown larger. "Dead."
Dropping his smile, Donatello took a step back. "Ah, well, my condolences."
Sam had cleared his throat loudly to gain the attention baxk to him. The last thing he had wanted was for Rose to go off the deep end just as Dean was. She seemed to be better, even if it had been an act, but if that had changed, Sam was unsure if he could prepare Jack and himself to handle both Rose and Dean.
"If Jack is sending out signals strong enough to get Donatello all the way here... Well, the angels are still out there. I mean, who knows what else could be listening? He needs protection."
Pulling out an angel blade, Rose never got the chance to show what her definition of protection was when Sam shook his head, motioning for her to put it away. Sighing, Dean pressed a hand to his forehead, "Her and Cas... Angel blade is not the kind of protection we mean."
Looking to the two brothers with a frown, Rose buried her blade back into her jacket. "Well, we're not slapping a condom on Jack."
"Please, shut up," Dean grumbled. The mention of Castiel has hurt him deeply but he wasn't going to act out yet. It was a good memory. One that made him laugh, even if today it hadn't. Now, this was about getting Jack the protection that Sam believed he deserved.
❂
THE PROTECTION THAT JACK HAD RECEIVED IN TATTOO FORM WAS NOT GOING TO PLAN. After he had washed away his tattoos that would keep him hidden, he had accidentally caused a fight to break out between everyone in the motel. It had been an accident but Dean Winchester did not care.
"It was a reflex!" Sam and Rose yelled together once again.
"Who cares if he didn't do it on purpose! He still did it. I mean, you didn't see Cas smiting someone every time he got his teeth cleaned," Dean argued back. His argument had been lackluster but it was the best he could do. However, the mention of his best friend had stung.
Scrunching up her face in anger, Rose took a step toward him, "Cas never got his teeth cleaned so you would never know that!"
"That's honestly besides the point, Rose!" Sam snapped. Realizing that his anger had not been set towards her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "This is about Jack, okay?"
At the mention of his name, Jack sat up from the bed. "I'm right here, you know." Unfortunately for him, none had even glanced his way.
"What about the vanishing tattoo?" Dean asked the group he stood with.
"An archangel healing itself," Donatello suggested.
"Reflex!" Sam yelled loudly.
"Or, he didn't want to be warded!"
"Okay, look, yeah, Jack is in Lucifers family tree. But we don't know if that DNA is stronger than Kelly's, or his connection with Cas," Sam said, determined for Dean to start to have an open mind at the situation at hand. If he had not been on board with protecting Jack, it would only divide them further than the loss of their mother and Castiel had.
"Oh, you mean the connection that got Cas killed, right?"
Shaking her head, Rose scoffed loudly at Dean's comment. "That connection did not get Cas killed. It was all Lucifer. You want someone to blame, blame him. Not Jack."
"Okay, that's it. I'm done, all right? Cause he's not God and he's not Cas. He's the friggin' devil!" Dean yelled. There was nothing that anyone could say that would change his mind. Jack was supposed to be evil so he was supposed to hate him. There was no other way to look at it.
Taking a step back, Rose had quit with the pointless argument. There was no way she could convince Dean but she had trusted Jack. And if Jack had wanted to feel safe, then she didn't want to stand with the person so against him. This time, she had wanted her own room no matter what Dean had said. Yanking her bag off the couch, she broke passed Dean to head over to Jack for him to follow. "Come on, Jack. We're getting our own room."
Once through the brothers, it had been brought to her attention, along with the others, that Jack was no longer with them. The room had been empty of his presence and that wave of power that Donatello had felt was distant. Clenching her jaw tight, Rose turned back to Dean, knowing that if he had stopped blaming the world, Jack would've stuck around.