Authors comment and disclamer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Some are Supernatural original, and others are from the Forbidden universe. The Forbidden (and its sequel Acceptance) is a story on this site that inspired me to write this and it belongs to JasonMorganfan87. I have the authors permition to use these characters. Thank you all for reading, and please feel free to review the story.
"Who... Who is Jack?" SSam jumps at the opportunity to change the subject. As much as he wanted to avoid talking about his life, he was also interested in this person and the fact that they were able to open a rift to another world. "He opened the rift?"
Cass and Dean and Sam exchanged glances, not really sure how to proceed, what to say. "What do you know about opening rifts and other worlds?" Dean asked and SSam was glad to answer. " We... We learned from the angel tablet that it was possible to open a door to an alternate reality, but no one ever successfully did it. They couldn't find one of the ingredients for the spell. How did this Jack do it?"
At this point it seemed like everyone was avoiding to tell the truth about each other's lives. So Dean said "A spell? Are you telling me there is a spell to open the rift?"
SSam nods. "Yes, but like I said, no one ever opened one. I can't really remember all the ingredients, but I know one that no one ever found. Something from the other world." Everyone seemed baffled by this so SSam continued "You need something that has been in that other world, anything, a pebble, a cloth, anything."
Dean raises his eyebrows "And if we were there?" SSam frowns "Then your clothes. Or even a hair of your head should do the trick... But, I don't understand... How... How did you open it in the first place? Was it Jack?" His eyes look from Sam to Dean to Cass and he was now sure they aren't telling him something. But he understood.
He was an outsider yet again, and he knew that feeling all too well. Even here he didn't fit in. But he could really blame them, he was a stranger to them and he had his own secrets to keep. So he decided to stay quiet. He knew it will be a matter of time when he sets his eyes on this Jack and he will know exactly what he is.
Sam and Dean didn't know what to do. They had enough problems as it is with Jack and mom missing and now they had an extra Sam they knew nothing about. Was he dangerous? Is he a bad guy? Will he be a problem or a solution? And then Dean had a realization.
His eyes widen as he gazes at SSam. Slight fear crosses SSam's face when he saw that look. "What about me?" Dean asks, and Sam looks at him confused for just a moment before he realises what his brother is talking about and he too looks at SSam.
SSam gulps and acts dumb "What about you?". Dean frowns at him and gives his a Really, you kidding me? look and says "The other me." SSam would continue to beat around the bush, but he knew well it would piss Dean off. "What do you want to know about him?"
First thing that crossed Dean's mind is him coming in guns blazing if his brother was missing and he found his location. "Do we need to worry about him coming here, shooting first asking questions later?" Sam smiles at this remark as he knows his brother would do just that, but SSam shakes his head. "No. I don't think so. He has no way of coming here unless your friend Jack opens the rift again or we find that spell. Which I guess we will have to do eventually, cuz no matter how much I like you guys, I should probably return to Hea... home."
SSam cusses at himself for making such dumb mistakes, but luckily nobody noticed. Or so he thought. Cass glances over at SSam before Sam pulls him away from the table wanting to ask about Jack. "How is he doing?" he says nudging his head in the direction of Jack's room.
"He is fine. He is just angry at himself for what happened and worried it will happen again." Cass replies. He feels bad about Jack and he told him anything he could think of that might help, but the kid is still curled up in his room, not wanting to come out. "What do we think about this new Sam?" Cass asks, trying to think about something else then the broken nephilim at the end of the hallway.
The talk Sam and Cass are having gave Dean the opportunity to study SSam and his reaction to the thing he was about to say. "I know you are hiding something. And I am going to find out what it is." He waited for a reaction, any flinch in SSam's face, any familiar tell, but nothing came. Not in the form of body expression anyway. "Of course I am – SSam finally said – No matter how much you look like my brother you are not him, I don't know you. You can't expect me to be an open book, especially when you are hiding something too."
Dean wasn't expecting that. Well played he thought and kept staring at SSam who was getting nervous. And when he gets nervous he talks. "What about this world? What happened here when Lucifer rose?" Now Dean was getting nervous. Not because of the question itself, but because of the answer. He started looking around for Sam for support when he heard SSam say "Common. I showed you some of my cards. Now it's your turn."
Dean gives him the bitch face, and then sighs "Ough, it's... it's complicated alright? – he glances back at Sam, remembering him without his soul and Dean trying to do anything to fix him – let's um... let's just say we trapped Lucifer back in the cage, Michael included and then Lucifer got out again and..." SSam nods "And?"
"And... He is now stuck in another another world with our mom. And we need to find a way to bring her back." SSam stopped listening after he heard the word mom. His heart started racing and his eyes widen as he realizes in this world his mother, the woman that took him in and cared for him even thought she knew what he was, was still alive. Or alive again, because anything is possible when you entangle with the supernatural.
"Wait...Wait... Mom... She's... She's alive?" and Dean sees the same look on SSam's face as he did back in that basement when Lady Bevell tried to get information out of them and Sam saw his mother for the first time, saving them. This shifts Dean's idea of the man sitting in front of him just a bit. "Yeah, she came back. But now she is stuck in that world and we have to find her and bring her back."
"I... I want to help. If you'll let me. Please." SSam said his voice shaking. He needed to see her. He wanted to see her. Dean just nods. He already gave them the information on where they could find the spell needed to open the rift, and if Dean is reading him right, he will help them. But Dean will keep an eye on him. He might look like his brother, but he will not, cannot get the full trust Dean puts in his real brother.
And he was about to put that trust to the test. As Sam and Cass return to the table, Dean asks nonchalantly "Tell me, new Sam, do you know what a nephilim is?" Nobody saw SSam flinch at that question as Sam yells at Dean and hits him with his hand on his shoulder "What are you doing?"
"Testing the waters, Sammy. I want to know what he thinks of nephilims." Dean shrugs his shoulders and turns his attention back on SSam. SSAm had a second to recuperate from the sudden question and he answers "I know what they are if that's what you're asking." Dean nods "Of course you know what they are, you are part Sam. – Sam frowns at this remark – but what I want to know is what do you think of them."
SSam gulps. He didn't understand where this question is coming from, so he decides to answer as truthfully as possible. "I don't really know. Never met one. I guess... They are powerful, but I guess they are just like monsters – Dean smiles in victory and Sam frowns before SSam could finish and the faces change when he does – they can be bad, but some can be good, right?" After hearing this Dean pouted like a child, even though it proved this Sam was more like his brother, and Sam smiled at SSam. "See, even he thinks so." Sam says to Dean and Dean immediately fires back "Of course he does, he is you."
As much as this bickering amused SSam, reminding him of the old days, he needed to know "Why did you ask me that?" Sam looks at Dean with a raised eyebrow, his face telling Dean You just had to reveal it, didn't you? And Dean frowns. "We... we might have a nephilim situation on our hands in this world..." and before he could say more SSam asks "Is it Jack? He is, isn't he? That explains how he was able to open the rift. But... He would have to be... I know a thing or two about nephilims and he would have to be very powerful... His father – he says looking at Cass and dismissing the idea – he's father would have to be..."
"An archangel." Cass states plainly awaiting on a reaction. SSam nods in a agreement his thoughts all over the place No, not just any archangel. He can't be Gabriel's, I know that much. It would have to be someone more powerful. It would have to be...
"He... He has to be Lucifer's, right?" SSam asks, think through very carefully how he was going to explain that he knew that. The expected question came in unison from both of the Winchesters, as Cass narrowed his eyebrows at SSam. "How did you know?"
SSam gulps as he explains "If he can open a rift to another world, he has to be very powerful. Too powerful for a simple angel/human combination... Raphael is too stupid and he sees humans as trash, so it can't be him. Michael would never do it, as it is forbidden. That just leaves Lucifer. It sounds like something he would do."
SSam hoped the explanation would be enough, he knew those archangels well enough to make that conclusion. He could only hope they wouldn't bring up the fourth archangel. His prayers were not answered.
Cass was still staring at him with a suspicious gaze when he asked "What about Gabriel?" SSam closes his eyes, wishing the angel away, but the question was asked and it was echoing in the bunker and in his head. He had to tell the truth. A part of it anyway.
SSam sighs before he starts. "Couldn't have been Gabriel's son, because he doesn't have that kind of power... And before you ask, yes, in our world we had a nephilim. Gabriel's son." He sighs unwillingly, hoping they bought it. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
"What happened to him? You said you "had" a nephilim and you said you never met one." Sam asks, his voice curious, his eyes piercing SSam's. He sounded concern more than anything.
"No one knows. He just vanished one day." And that was the truth. Back in his world, no one knew what happened, not even Gabriel. There was no note, no goodbye, his son just vanished, and it must have worried Gabriel to the core.
"How come you know so much about nephilims?" Cass asked, hoping to find a sign, a clue, anything that would confirm his doubts. "I... I was helping Gabriel find him... Learned a lot about them in the process." SSam lied. He didn't like having to lie to them, and he didn't know how long before they found out the truth, but he knew he had to do it, especially after seeing how Dean reacted when it came to nephilims.
"That's...That's great. Maybe he can help with Jack." Sam said and looked at Dean for a reaction. Dean just shrugged his shoulders, but Cass frowned. "Can you excuse us for a moment?" he asked and SSam nodded. He got up and walked a few feet away. He could still hear them, but they didn't know that.
Cass speaks up "I am not so certain about this, Sam. Do you really trust him?" Cass had his suspicions and it was obvious. Sam tries to reassure him "I know you are protective of Jack, I get that, but if this Sam knows anything that can help, I say we give it a shot. As far as I can see, he answered all our questions. Of course, we don't fully trust him, and we won't leave him alone with Jack."
Cass didn't like it. There was something about this SSam, he just couldn't see what it was. But as always, he puts his faith in the Winchesters, he trusts them to make good decisions, as his aren't always the best. SSam naturally heard all that, and after some consideration, he decided what further actions to take. He just hoped it wouldn't backfire on him.
Cass turns and walks to SSam. "Let's go." SSam frowns and asks "Go where?". Cass rolls his eyes and replies in a dull way "You are going to meet Jack."
