AN: to MCarreant: I'm so glad you're enjoying! I know you've binged read but here's another chapter for you!

You guys didn't think this was gonna be easy, did you? :P

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Is is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men

-Fredrick Douglass

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The wind whipped at Sam's face. He shivered and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out the feather. He swallowed and shared a nervous look with Jody. She just shrugged. Sam exhaled and fiddled with his lighter. The smell of holy oil stank in the air.

In front of Sam's feet was the bowl of ingredients. Sam dropped the feather into the bowl and began the Latin incantation. The incantation was long, the vowels stressful and the consonants awkward. Sam was out of practice, and he berated himself for getting so lazy with his spell languages. It felt like he was speaking in that foreign language forever, until he finally came to the end.

"Jack," Sam said, lips curling around the name.

The leaves on the trees rustled. The wind howled louder, whipping Sam's hair up against his cheeks. Jody bundled her arms tighter around herself. Their breath was visible before them.

Sam got his lighter ready, flicking it open. The moment he saw a flash of movement within the ring of holy oil, he dropped the lighter. The fire shot up instantly, but it radiated no heat.

"Holy shit," Jody said.

Sam recognized the eyes. Yellow, beady, yet there was something naïve within. Jack was tall and skinny and naked, goosebumps visible on his flesh. Jack rotated his head slowly, looking right to left until he stopped at Sam. Sam froze under the gaze. It made his skin itched.

"Hi, Jack," Sam said slowly. The eyes made him uncomfortable. They represented too much bad in his life, and all the bad within him. The demon blood that was still somewhere deep inside him. But he couldn't deny that these eyes were not like the eyes of Azazel or Ramiel. They were different. Sam reminded himself that Jack was still a child.

Jack visibly inhaled. "You're Sam Winchester," he said.

Sam gnawed on his lip. "Yeah," Sam answered. "How did you know that?"

"I saw you in his heart."

Sam was lost for words for what felt like a long time. Jody shifted behind him. "Castiel's, you mean?"

Jack looked around. "I think so."

"What do you mean you think so?" Jody spoke up, voice sharp, cutting through the wind like butter. Sam wondered the same thing.

"The nice one," Jack said. "It was the nice one. Not the others."

"Dagon and Lucifer," Sam said.

"Lucifer," Jack said. He said the name slowly, like it was a word he had never heard before. "My father."

"Yeah," Sam said, swallowing. "Look, Jack, we don't want to hurt you."

Jack stared at the flames trapping him dubiously.

"I think you're good," Sam said, speaking to Jack like he was a wounded animal. "In your heart, you're good. You didn't mean to hurt the animals, right?"

"No."

"Good. And you haven't hurt any people."

"No."

"Right." Sam forced a smile. Jack spoke like a toddler. Sam wondered how well Jack grasped language. Did he even understand what Sam was saying? "Listen Jack. Castiel? He's my friend. My family, actually. And he's hurt. And so is my mom."

Jack's eyes widened. "Your mom is hurt?"

"I think so." It hurt Sam to say the words out loud. He had been trying very hard not to think about Mom, about what she might be going through in that other World. Not when there was nothing Sam could do. "See, she's in another World. When you were born, a rift opened between our World and a different one. My mom is trapped in that other World. But you can help us. You can make Castiel better and you can help me find my mom."

Jack was quiet for a moment. The flames crackled. Jody was breathing heavily behind Sam. Jack raised a hand and placed it over his chest, fingers biting into his skin. "My mom," he began slowly, looking down at Sam's feet, "she's not here."

"She's not," Sam said, trying to ignore the pang in his chest. "I'm sorry."

"She's not here because of me."

"No, no. It wasn't your fault."

Jack met Sam's eyes. "I can't help you."

Sam couldn't keep the confusion off his face. He glanced over his shoulder to Jody. Her mouth was a thin line. She shrugged, but her hand hovered over her holster, fingers twitching. Sam turned back to Jack robotically. "What?"

"I don't know how." Jack's voice trembled. "I don't know what I'm doing."

Chills ran down Sam's spine. Asmodeus's early words rang in his head. Baby snakes are deadlier than their parents.

"That's okay." Sam struggled to keep his voice calm. He needed to stay calm. If he panicked, Jack would panic, and a panicked Nephilim that couldn't yet control his world altering powers was not something Sam wanted to deal with. "We'll help you figure out how to use your powers. Cas can help you. If you can help Cas, make him better, he can help you."

"You don't understand," Jack yelled. The flames in front of him shot upwards several feet, whooshing louder than the wind. Jody bent forward, head over her knees, and Sam clamped his hands over his ears. Jack's face was flushed, panting heavily. The flames dwindled down back to where they had been before. Sam reluctantly pulled his hands away from his ears. "You don't understand," Jack repeated, quieter. "I don't know anything. I don't know how to heal."

Jody stepped forward slowly. She walked until she was right beside Sam. She grabbed onto Sam's elbow.

"What?" Sam said.

Jack looked at his hands. "Those animals. . . they were sick. I tried to help them and instead. . ." Jack clenched his hands. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."

Sam's mind was a maelstrom of emotions. Disappointment, anger, depression. He'd been counting on Jack for everything. To heal Cas, to bring back Mom. Jack had been his only hope. The only light at the end of this tunnel.

"That demon," Jack began, loud enough to capture Sam's attention, "he was right."

Sam shook his head. "Whatever he said, it was a lie."

"I know what I'm capable of, Sam Winchester," Jack snapped. "I could destroy you. Both of you. It would be easy. Just like those animals. Do you want to be like those animals?" Jack paused. "Asmodeus wants me to sit by his side on the throne of Hell. I may be young, but I'm not stupid."

"Of course not," Sam said, swallowing. Being Lucifer's son did have its perks. The sudden growth spurt had been unexpected, but the extraterrestrial intelligence was not. The longer Sam stood there conversing with Jack, the sharper the sting in his heart. Jack reminded him a lot of Cas: naïve, yet more intelligent than anyone would give him credit for.

"He doesn't want me as an ally," Jack continued. "He just wants me out of the way. Because I'm a threat to him, aren't I?"

"You're a threat to everyone," Sam answered. Lying would do no good. Jack would probably be able to tell right away anyway. Cas could. "If you wanted to be."

Jack was not evil. He was capable of being good. He wanted to be good. Sam could see it in his eyes. Jack chose Cas over Lucifer and Dagon for a reason. He'd said it himself, he'd seen into Cas's heart and saw something in there. Something good.

"I got away from him," Jack explained. "He wasn't as well-prepared as you." Jack eyed the fire. "Arrogant."

"Will you stay?" Sam asked cautiously. "I'll put it out if you promise not to fly away."

"What's a promise?"

Jody's grip tightened.

"A promise is when you say you're going to do something, and you do it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Stay right there," Sam said. He unhooked Jody's hand from his elbow. He crossed the distance between him and the flames and kicked dirt over them. Once Sam covered up a small portion, the entire ring of fire extinguished, curls of smoke reaching up with thin, bony tendrils towards the sky.

"You're good," Sam said again. "I truly believe it." Jack could have decimated the entire World by now, if he were so inclined. The fact that he hadn't, the fact that Sam and Jody were still standing, in one piece, was testament to that. "It's not safe for you to be alone. Asmodeus is going to keep searching for you. He won't give up. We can keep you safe." Sam gestured to Jody.

Jack's eyebrows narrowed. "Why? I can't help you. I don't know how to get your mom back. Or how to heal Castiel."

"Because you don't deserve whatever Asmodeus has planned for you." Sam stuck out his hand, palm upward. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but you have to trust me. I don't want to hurt you."

Jack stared at Sam's hand like it was a coiled snake. "Trust. That's like a promise, right? It means you'll do what you say."

"Yeah," Sam said.

"What will you do?"

"Take you somewhere safe. I don't quite know where that is yet," Sam admitted. Was the bunker safe? Its safety had been compromised several times over the last few years, from demons and men alike. Still, Sam couldn't think of anywhere else to take a being as juiced up as Jack, especially with a Prince of Hell searching for him like a predator. Sam's throat tightened. He realized that there was no way he could take Jack back to Washington. The drive was too long to risk it. And a place as public as a hospital was nowhere to take a baby god.

He would have to worry about it later. For now, the bunker.

Jack continued to stare at Sam dubiously. Sam gulped.

"We'll take you home."