Junior woke up slowly, listening to the sounds of the others moving around the camp fire. He blinked his eyes open, and saw his father cooking over the fire with Sam, talking in low voices. Across the camp, Faith sat upon her sleeping bag, curled into Castiel, who was playing with her hair gently. Her wings were nowhere to be seen, and she was gazing into the fire, clearly deep in thought. Junior smiled to himself, watching her as she stayed in her own world, enjoying being reunited with her mother.
She didn't know how beautiful she was, how tiny and delicate she seemed, how much her angelic powers seemed to radiate out of her. Yes, she seemed tough and unafraid, but Junior had been wondering for a long while how much of a front that was. He was even more convinced now that her attitude towards him had changed, and in the last few days, she had seemed even prettier, and sweeter, and more patient. Much more like the tiny toddler that Junior remembered meeting back when he was an excitable three-year-old.
He wished, as he had since his father had told him about this adventure and he insisted on coming, that it was so much easier to just be with her. The pregnancy didn't bother him, or her status as a half-angel, half-human creature. Even those moments she had looked at him in disgust or anger hadn't stopped him from wanting her, it just made it harder to believe it was possible.
And then she had kissed him, and made everything more complicated. Because Junior didn't know if she was still with that other guy, the one she had talked about with Gabriel and Dean when she thought Junior couldn't hear. He didn't know if she would want him when she had a new-born to contend with, although he was happy to help. More than happy.
His father stooped down into his line of vision, smiling in that dopey way that Junior associated with total trust.
"Breakfast's up."
Junior nodded, and scratched over the beanie on his head, climbing out of his sleeping back and rolling it up before sitting next to his dad, watching Faith across the flames. She looked up at him, and smiled shyly, before turning to Sam and passing him a mug. He pulled her into a hug, and she laughed, and they made a small joke about hamsters as Garth leaned in to Junior.
"She's not going anywhere," he breathed.
"Dad, don't." He looked down at his plate, and poked a fork into the hash that was there.
"You can't take your eyes off her."
"Weren't you like it with Mama?"
Garth laughed, and nudged Junior's shoulder.
"We'll give you some space when we start walking again," Garth promised. Junior nodded, and made himself eat. His attention never wandered far from the girl a few metres away as she interacted with her family.
As soon as everything had been eaten, and Junior was given the task of washing up, the rest of their group set about packing up, and Faith approached, watching his scrub the pans in a nearby stream.
"Do you need any help?" She asked. Junior didn't know if it was the angel genes, or the way that he was feeling, but her voice always sounded melodic, like she was singing every word.
"No, I'm good." Junior promised. "But thanks. You need to rest."
"I'm not incapable of helping," she started to argue.
"I know. You could kick my ass in a heartbeat. But what kind of guy would I be if I made you do the dishes?"
She nudged him with her elbow, and leaned closer, resting her head on his shoulder. He tried not to jostle her, or over-react, or turn around and kiss her like he wanted to do.
"Are we nearly there now?" He asked instead.
"I think so. I hope so. I hate being pregnant. I miss flying."
"I forgot you could do that. Maybe when you've had this kid, you could take me flying? We'd get your dad to look after the baby."
She stopped leaning against him, and sighed.
"I don't know what's going to happen once I've had this baby, Junior."
"I know."
"I'd be the worst girlfriend ever," she warned.
"I could handle it."
He looked down at her, and she looked back steadily, and he was once again breathless over her mismatched eyes. He honestly would do anything for her, if he wasn't so sure she would kick his ass when he tried.
"My Dad would judge the crap out of you."
"You are his princess."
"You're crazy."
"But you're thinking about it." Junior sounded a lot more confident than he felt. Gabriel called to them, asking them to hurry up, and Faith turned straight away, breaking their eye contact. Junior tried not to feel upset, he knew that the entire point of this trek across the States was Faith's baby, and the tasks that God himself had given them. It wasn't meant to be a dating opportunity. But then, he hadn't expected to see her, a strange mix of both her fathers that somehow worked and made her beautiful, and the way she had looked in him, deep inside him like she could see anything. He also hadn't expected her to grab a gun and point it at his face, her reflexes even faster than the alpha of their pack. He hadn't expected, in those first few moments, to fall so hard. He knew his father had realised, that Dean and Sam had worked it out, Gabriel made it obvious that he knew as well, but Faith? Faith only seemed to be waking up to the idea now. Junior just had to be patient.
"You lied to me," Faith told Gabriel as they set off from the camp site. Her father and uncle were ahead of them, leading the way, and Castiel was by her side, Junior and Garth walking behind and talking between themselves as well. Gabriel smirked back at her.
"About what, in particular?"
"When you told me about having this baby, you were talking about Dax. You said he was going to be my Joseph."
"Oops," Gabriel didn't sound repentant at all. "He was always going to bail."
"Gabriel!"
"Oh, come on Faith! Kid hated that you found Dean and Cas again. Hated me too. And Krissy, and hunting, and everything else."
"Then why did he stick around?"
"Because he thought what we did. That you were one of the antichrist kids. That he could use you. And then he thought that he could use your nephilim powers, and now he's run off to Stevie for the exact same reason."
Faith looked angrily at Castiel, who was watching Dean walk ahead of them.
"Mom, did you think this was going to happen?"
Castiel turned his head slowly, his gaze never leaving Dean's back.
"Sorry?"
"Dax, Mom."
"Oh. You miss him?"
Faith looked at her father, and back to her mother.
"Are you fighting?" She wanted to know.
"No," Castiel sounded confused, but didn't expand any further. She gave up talking to him, and turned back to her uncle.
"So you knew he was going to leave?"
"I knew he wasn't nowhere near good enough for you. If I didn't think you could handle yourself, I would have dealt with him years ago."
Faith was fuming, walking with her arms folded tight across her chest. Gabriel nudged her.
"What do you care, anyway? You've moved on."
She fought the urge to turn and look at Junior, and stuck her chin out instead.
"I suppose Junior's not good enough for me either, is he?"
Gabriel laughed, and Castiel stirred beside them.
"You notice that Junior hasn't complained once? He's come on this trip, he's taken his watch, he's helped with chores and coped with your moods and he's still happy to be here. He didn't even complain about the attack. Kinda wondering if you're good enough for him."
Castiel turned, and looked at Junior, before entering the conversation.
"Faith, you're in a relationship with the werewolf?"
Gabriel's smirk grew, and Faith turned to her mother slowly. Castiel was looking at her steadily, finally a part of this conversation.
"Would it be okay if I was?" She checked.
"Does he make you happy?"
She smiled at her mother. He always made it sound so simple, so easy to navigate.
"I think so. Yeah. I definitely feel things that I never did with Dax."
Castiel nodded slowly, and glanced towards Dean again.
"You should always go to the person who makes you happiest, Faith."
She stepped closer to him.
"What's going on with you and Dad?"
"I'm not sure." Castiel sighed. "I gave him some bad news last night, but he's not taking it the way I thought he would."
Faith looked at Dean, and eavesdropped shamelessly on his thoughts. He seemed to be singing a song in his head, one Faith didn't know too well. It was surprisingly sweet and unbeat, not the kind of music she expected at all. She gave Castiel a perplexed look, and he sighed.
"He's been playing it all morning. He does it when he doesn't want me in his head."
"What was the bad news?" Faith wanted to know. Castiel shook his head.
"You have enough stress to cope with. We'll be fine. It's just been difficult, being separated for so long."
Faith reached over and squeezed his arm, and he folded her hand into the crook of his elbow, walking together like an old fashioned couple. They fell silent, listening to Sam catch Dean up on what had happened with the antichrist girls, and Gabriel caught up with him to tell him about their trip, the demons they had fought and Junior's attack. Faith put Castiel's arm across her shoulder, and stepped closer to him.
"It'll all be okay, Faith. I promise you."
"I know."
She couldn't resist turning to look at Junior, who smiled warmly at her, and she felt herself grinning back. Maybe her mother was right. Junior would make her very happy.