Chapter Twelve

Kat couldn't believe it. He was her father?! He was her FATHER?! She felt like her world was crashing down around her. How could he say that so aloof, as if its completely unimportant. Like she was unimportant. He was no longer God at this moment. He was just the father that abandoned her. "Are you kidding me?!" she nearly shouted, walking up close to him on stage. "You're my father? Why didn't you start with that? You just had me reading your shitty autobiography!!" "Hey." He said defensively "Its not that bad. You said it has good bones." He went back to playing his tune. Kat threw her hands in the air. "I was being NICE. What is wrong with you? Don't you care about anything?" He didn't stop playing or open his eyes. He just said softly. "I care plenty. I cared enough to create.. well everything."

As she stared at him in disbelief, all of Kat's anger and sadness that had built up throughout her life flooded her. He made her! He abandoned her! He caused her mothers death!! He didn't even seem to care!. Emotions overwhelmed her. "Look at me!" She demanded. He ignored her and continued to play. Here she was, right in front of him and he didn't care to even look her in the eye, or give her an explanation. She'd had enough. She ripped his guitar out of his hands and threw it across the stage. "HEY!! What was that for?" He asked, eyes wide in surprise. "You're not listening! Pay attention because there are things I have waited my whole life to tell you. Now look at me..!!" He snapped his fingers and a new acoustic appeared in his hands, he grimaced and went back to his music, ignoring her outburst. She felt a sharp stab of emotion in her chest, as her heart began to break. "I hate you." She whispered, taking a step back. His music immediately stopped at that, and he finally looked up at her.

Kat placed her hands on her hips defiantly. "I HATE you!" She said a little louder. Chuck sighed and placed his guitar back in its stand, getting up. Gone was his kind smile. Gone was his easiness. He gave her a stern look. "I made you." He replied sharply, as he stepped menacingly toward her. He stopped mere inches away from her face. His lack of compassion fueled her anger. Her heart thundered in her ears. Her hands began to shake and she squeezed them into fists. "You LEFT me. You KILLED my mother!" She screamed at him before swinging an angry fist into his face, making direct contact with his nose.

Chuck looked up with rage filled eyes. Suddenly she felt the full force of his light as an invisible power dragged her across the stage into a chair and held her down. She was frozen in terror as he slowly advanced towards her. She'd let her temper get away from her and she wouldn't live to regret it, she thought. He directed his full light at her and she could barely breathe. Kat tried to escape but she couldn't move a muscle. The air felt thick and electrified. Chuck put his face close to hers and whispered dangerously. "Don't. Test. Me."

Kat's tears streamed down her face in terror, as she tried and failed to suppress her scared sobs. Chucks light slowly faded away, along with his anger. He let out a long breath. When she was finally able to breathe and move freely, Kat wrapped her arms around her knees and cried. Chuck tilted his head to one side and regarded her silently for a few minutes before speaking. He needed to set some things straight.

"I know I haven't been the best father. I AM sorry you were hurt by my absence. I abandoned all of my children. It's kind of what I do." He said taking a step back and rubbing his neck. Kat dried her tears on her sleeve and willed her breath to slow down. He gave her a small apologetic smile and took a step back. "Do you have any idea how many people call out to me, every second. Every day. Begging me to be help them. To be there for them. How many world's! Everyone has always wanted something from me. I would step in and help and they would just need me again. It became exhausting." Kat sat up, listening, but remained seated in the chair. "At a certain point I had to adopt a more hands off approach to parenting. Helping everyone all the time was just enabling them. Taking a step back has helped humanity learn how to help themselves. They have done some truly amazing things on their own, like music." He closed his eyes for a moment.

Kat thought about what he said for a long time before finally responding. She had never really considered his point of view. She slowly composed herself and got up. Her fear was fading and she felt like she could breath a little easier now. His energy had changed and now filled her with a sense of calm. Clearing her throat, she said. "If you really want to write a good book. Write about that. This is the kind of thing people want to know. Tell the hard truth. There's no soul baring in your autobiography. That's what's missing." "That's because I don't have a soul." He replied. "But you invented them. Didn't you?" Chuck smiled brightly at her. "So you will help me?" he asked her, looking hopeful. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I will help you." She answered.

Kat and Chuck got settled into the booth. There was a fragile sense of companionship blooming between them. He had decided to throw out his autobiography and start over. He listened to her advice as he worked. As he typed, the pages came out of the printer for her to read. "This is what I was talking about! Chapter ten, why I don't answer prayers and you should be glad I don't." She laughed. "And chapter eleven, the truth behind devine intervention and why I avoid it at all costs." "Better, right?" He asked. "Its gold!" Kat responded excitedly.

"There is one thing though, if I may ask. Since your on a roll here. It might make a good chapter, or even a whole book." "Shoot." Said Chuck. "Okay, why?" Chuck stopped typing and turned to her. "Can you be more specific? I kinda get that question a lot, about pretty much everything." She elaborated with. "Why did you create life?" Chuck leaned back and thought for a moment. "I was lonely." He responded simply. "I am being. My sister was nothingness. That's not exactly the makings of a fun two-hander, you know?" Chuck shook his head. "I was stupid, naive. I thought if I could show my sister that there was something more than just us, something better than us, then maybe she'd change. She'd stop being..her. But every time I created a new world she would destroy it. So I had to lock her away." He closed his eyes as if haunted by the memory of her. She nodded slowly, thinking.

"Can I ask something more personal?" Kat requested. He looked back at her. His previous smile back in place. "Of course. Ask me anything." He offered. "Why did you create me?" She asked. Chuck blew out a long breath before responding. "Its not the answer you want to hear." He said, staring into her eyes apologetically. He clasped his hands in front of him, leaning forward. "I didn't actually mean to. There was just.. something special about your mother. I felt compelled to use my power of creation with her. I don't even know why I did it. Maybe I just lived as a human for too long. It's the only time I have ever created life that way.

When we were done, I wanted to take it back. I knew she wouldn't survive birthing you. I thought about ending you, when you were still inside of her but I couldn't. You were my child." He looked at Kat with sadness and regret in his eyes. "I did care about your mother. I stayed with her until you were born. I made sure she has the life she deserves in heaven. You were so perfect, so powerful. But I knew you would bring so much destruction. Imagine a toddler throwing a fit, but with the power to decimate cities. So I decided you were going to be raised human. I put up a barrier in your mind to block your light. To make you appear human. But it wasn't long before you started to break through it. Little by little as your power grew too great. The barrier is so fractured now it won't hold much longer." She didn't know how to respond.

"The dreams?!" she asked. "Why the dreams?" Chuck hesitated. "That surprised me as well. I wasn't expecting that. You see, when I created mankind, I thought it would be fun to throw some soul mates into the mix. I wanted it to be completely random, even to me. I let fate decide. She's best at that stuff. I thought it would make for a good story. I wasn't expecting you to have one. And I really wasn't expecting it to be him!!!" Chuck scoffed and rolled his eyes at the mention of Crowley. "Your loneliness reached out for him. Your power slipping through the cracks, brought him into your dreams. Your visions of him." She realized suddenly that she hadn't been having many dreams of him since he came into her life. Her loneliness reached out for him. She wasn't so lonely now. Could they really be soul mates?!

"Wow, that's a lot to process." She admitted resting her head on the table. She wondered how long they had been here, working on his book. She didn't even know if it was night or day at this point and she was exhausted. "Yeah, I know it is. Hey look, you got me through my writers block. I think I can finish the rest if you want to go home." She nodded, covering her yawn with one hand. Chuck and Kat stood up and he stretched his arms wide "Come on." He said, smiling, gesturing for her to come into his embrace. He wanted a hug? She froze. Did she want to hug him? She wasn't sure, so she just stared at him wide-eyed. He slowly walked over to her and put his arms around her. Her body was stiff against him for a moment before she gave in and hugged him back.

Chuck pressed two glowing fingers against her forehead and she felt a rush of adrenaline move through her and jumped back. She suddenly felt wide awake, stronger, powerful, as her light was released. She looked down and saw she was glowing brightly. "There." He said. "It was coming down anyways." He looked her up and down with a grin. "Perfect" He said.

"You have to remember, humans can't see your light. They aren't strong enough. They will die if they do, so be careful when to show it." The thought of hurting her friends by accident started to scare her. "How do I conceal it?" She asked. She tried to get rid of the light, shaking her arms as if to throw the light off of her. Chuck put one hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently to comfort her. "Its easy. Close your eyes. Imagine your light pulling back into you. That's good, now lock it away." She did as he said and opened her eyes. She looked normal again. "It will take some practice in control. But it should hold unless you get really upset. You still have a lot to learn about your power, but your ready.. You're going to feel different now that the barrier is gone. Work on controlling your feelings. Maybe don't punch anybody in the nose." He paused giving her a genuine smile. I know I haven't really been there for you, but if you ever need me, you know how to get a hold of me." "Pray, right?" She chuckled. "Yes." He answered seriously.