Unfound

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Season Thirteen: Episode 2 – The Rising Son: There are a couple lines of dialogue from this episode in this chapter, but the plot has been completely disregarded.

Harry woke up just as they were approaching the city limits of Lebanon. He didn't remember falling asleep.

"Have a nice little cat nap? I must have bored you silly for you to pass out like that," this was said cheerfully enough that Harry wasn't worried that the blond woman was offended.

"No, no, it's me," he said, feeling chagrinned. "I…" he debated what to say, "I've been ill recently. That's why Sam and Dean left me behind."

"Ah. But you decided to follow anyway?"

"Yes," he said.

She laughed. "You really are a Winchester, ain't ya?" The fondness in her voice made him smile.

"Guess so. The whole lot of us are more headstrong than a hippogriff."

"That a British saying?"

"Oh. Yes," Harry lied.

"Um hmm. Well, I'm happy you're awake. I've never been to Sam and Dean's Bunker. I've heard about it, of course, but the location is a tip-top secret. Mind giving me some directions?"

Harry thought for a moment. And, to his embarrassment, he realized that, "I've no idea how to get there," he admitted out loud.

Donna's eyebrows raised. "Really? They keep you blindfolded or something when you went there?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I've never left or gone there in a car. I always just…flew."

"Right, 'cause you're an angel," she said, sounding like she didn't quite believe that.

"Right," he confirmed. "But we could call Teddy? He probably knows the way." Harry, at least, hoped that was the case. His godson had planned to meet Molly in town to bring her in, so he assumed that he could navigate their way there.

Donna looked at him like she still couldn't believe that he didn't know the way to his own home, but she pulled out her phone, in any case.

"You want to dial there for me?" She asked. "I'd prefer to be hands-free while I drive."

Harry had no idea what that meant, but he took the mobile after she had unlocked it. To his great amusement, Teddy's name was listed as "The Tedster."

"Donna? Did something happen? Are you alright? Is Harry alright? What's going on?" Pangs of guilt filled Harry when he heard how worried Teddy was.

"Hey, Teddy, it's me," Harry said. "We're both fine."

There was a sigh of relief on the other end. "Oh good. If you're fine, then I can kick your arse when you finally get here."

Harry laughed, which switched quickly into a painful cough. But he recovered from it faster than it took for Donna to send a concerned glance his way. "Sure. We'll go a couple of rounds as soon as we arrive. Just – Teds, Donna has never been to the Bunker and I've never driven there. Would you mind telling us how to get there?"

"Yeah. First, where are you?"

Teddy was able to direct them to the entrance of the Bunker. Harry was surprised and impressed at how well it had gone.

As they pulled in, Harry let out a breath.

"You alright there, buddy?" Donna asked him.

"Oh," Harry said, not realizing that he was externalizing his feelings quite so much. "Yeah. Fine. It's just – I'm worried about who is waiting for me in there."

"Teddy?"

Harry shook his head. "No. Molly. She's – she's my best mate's mum, but, well, she's basically been like a mum to me since I was eleven. And she, uh, well, she's not gonna be impressed with my little disappearing act."

"You're an angel and you're scared of your best friend's mother?"

Harry shuddered. "Molly's not the sort of woman to mince words. I'm in for the lecture of my life. And then more mothering to more than makeup for my motherless childhood," he said, realizing that this all sounded a bit dramatic. He also failed to mention that Molly often doled out truths that he didn't want to hear or acknowledge.

Donna chuckled. "She sounds like my type of woman. Let's go meet her!"

Harry took a deep breath and got out of the car. Time to get this over with.

III

"I'm just sayin' Dean – we have no way of knowing, and at least, we can try and see if he can…"

"Yeah, you've been just sayin' since we burned their bodies. That's the end, Sam, you know it."

"It wasn't for us! Or for Harry!"

Dean snorted. "When have we ever been that lucky? You need to accept that that kid is bad news. And the sooner we can disarm the bomb, the sooner…"

"Jack," Sam interrupted Dean, as the kid came into the room. He blushed a little that Jack had heard the argument between them.

"Disarm?" Jack asked. "You think…you think that I'm a bomb?"

"Yes," Dean said at the same time that Sam said, "No."

Jack's face scrunched up and he disappeared.

"Great," Sam said to Dean. "You scared him off. Shocking how you're so good at that."

That cut deeper than Dean cared to admit. "Fuck off," he said. "At least now we know he can teleport. Let's go find him. And then get the hell home."

III

Jack didn't understand. His mother had told him that it wasn't safe for him to be a baby or a child, so he had grown up fast. She hadn't said that being an adult was going to be any easier. Or safer. She had promised that Castiel would look after him. That Harry would help him with his powers. But he had been born only a couple of days ago and already, everything his mother had told him had been wrong.

He held back tears and he thought about the words that she had repeated again and again. I love you so much. You are going to be amazing. He couldn't help but wonder if that had just been wishful thinking on her part.

"Jack?"

Jack looked up, relieved to see Sam standing there.

"Hey," the tall man said when he noticed the tears. "Hey, bud. We, uh, we've been looking for ya."

"I'm sorry," Jack said. "I…Everyone was so angry."

"Yeah," Sam agreed with him. "And, um…I supposed you wanted to be away from it."

"And suddenly, I was."

"I tell you what. You got some special skills, Jack. That's for sure. But you're not the only one. I know you haven't met him yet, but Harry has many of the same gifts as you do. And he isn't always able to control them either. We just need to make sure we get a grip on 'em, so…so you don't hurt anybody."

"Does Dean hate Harry too?"

"Dean doesn't hate you," Sam said a little too quickly. "Or Harry," he added, more confident in that second statement. "Look, sometimes the wires in Dean's head get crossed and – and he gets frustrated, and then he mixes frustration with anger, and – and fear," Dean would kill him for the psychoanalysis, but Sam had found that what had been covered in his Psych 101 class at Standford had really helped him understand not only Dean but his whole family.

"Why would he be afraid?" Jack asked. He didn't feel like he was scary. He didn't mean to hurt anyone. Sometimes it happened but…he didn't want to hurt people. He just didn't want to hurt.

"Because Dean feels like it's his job to protect everyone. And right now, we need to protect you. But we may also need to protect people from you."

"Maybe I'm not worth all this."

Sam's heart broke. "Your mom thought you were. So did Cas. So does Harry. And so do I."

III

The Bunker seemed – different, somehow, when Harry finally worked up the courage to go in.

"Woah," Donna said, seeing the space for the first time. "This is some hangout."

"It is," Harry agreed. He descended the stairs.

"Harry, dear!" Molly appeared almost out of thin air. (Which, of course, she was perfectly capable of doing.) She gathered him up in her arms, which Harry sank into a little. There was nothing quite like getting a hug from your mum.

After a couple of prolonged seconds of the hug where he could swear he could hear the woman holding back tears, Molly pulled away. "Let me get a look at you," she said, stepping back, but keeping her hands on his arms. "You're too thin," she said.

"You always say that, Molly," he countered.

She clucked her tongue at him. "Are you questioning me?"

"No, ma'am," he responded promptly.

"Good. Well, since someone else was able to come and pick you up from your foolish adventure on a motorbike, which, young man, do not think we'll not cover in great detail, I braved that Muggle kitchen of yours, and have made sure that you're all stocked up. Your pantry was a disgrace. All I could find were American sweets, some sort of dead meat that I wouldn't feed the cat, and beer. I had to send Teddy out to the shops to get everything we needed."

"And was he able to find what you wanted?"

"You know – of course, he wasn't, these American shops, they…" she stopped and gave him a little glare. "I just realized I've been terribly rude. And so have you, Harry James. Why don't you introduce me to this lovely lady?"

Donna blushed.

"Molly, meet Sheriff Donna Hanscom," Harry said. "She saved my life," he said.

"I don't know…" Donna began, but Molly wasn't having any of it.

"Harry's a proud one. He wouldn't say that you saved his life if you hadn't. I owe you a debt of gratitude, Harry is very important to so many of us." She moved from where she was standing in front of Harry to pull Donna into a hug.

Donna easily accepted it.

"He shouldn't have needed to be saved in the first place," Teddy said with anger as he entered the room.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're just mad that I gave you the slip," he said, trying to make light of the situation. Teddy wasn't having it. His hair changed to an inky black that Harry understood to mean that he was furious.

"You tricked me. You lied to me. And you almost died. Do you know what would happen if you died, Harry?"

The smile slipped off Harry's face. Teddy was dead serious.

"Teds…"

"No!" He interrupted. "I don't want to talk to you. We almost lost you again. Because you were being a selfish arsehole. Again. Did you think of anyone but yourself before you…"

"I was thinking about your uncles," Harry said sharply.

"Shut up," Teddy said, taking everyone aback.

"Edward…" Molly started.

"No," Teddy argued, although he did feel a little bad having this argument in front of others. But he was just so angry. And hurt. "Don't you pretend that this was about Sam and Dean! This was about you, and your ego, and – and your saving people thing. Well, the people who care about you are sick of it." He turned and fled the room before Harry could respond.

Harry sighed. And then sat, tiredly, down in a chair by the map table.

"He's not wrong, you know," Molly said, albeit, much more gently. "That was a stupid risk, Harry. You had us worried sick."

Harry didn't say anything, just groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Donna, dear, why don't I make you a nice cuppa. I don't know much about those…contraptions you drive, but I know after a long journey, I'm always exhausted."

Donna nodded. "I could use some caffeine." Without looking at Harry, she followed Molly out of the room.

Harry was grateful for the silence and the space. He knew that he was in for more lectures later, but hearing Teddy talk about him that way had stung. And he was exhausted. Everything still hurt. He didn't have his powers and he had hurt Teddy.

His mobile rang. It was Sam.

He picked up.

"Well, how'd it turn out?" His brother said on the other end of the phone.

"How did what turn out?" Harry asked grouchily. He wasn't in the mood.

"Your mug shot. You know – Dean and I have copies of all of ours. We should start displaying them somewhere. On the fridge, maybe."

"Very funny, Sam," Harry said, although he couldn't help but feel like his spirits had been lifted slightly. "Are you alright? And Dean? And Gabriel and Castiel?"

Harry could feel the mood shift and his stomach dropped.

"We're about three hours out from the Bunker," Sam said. "I think that this would be a better conversation to have in person."

"I just got back to the Bunker," Harry responded.

"Yeah, dude, I know," Sam said.

"How?"

"You think Teddy's the only one to think to put GPS on your phone? I saw that you had arrived in the greater Smith County area, and I knew that you had to be home."

Harry was both displeased and unsurprised that his brothers had a tracking device on him. He was a little more surprised to hear that Teddy did too.

"Alright. Well – could you just tell me if you've taken care of Lucifer?"

Sam hesitated. "Lucifer isn't a threat right now," he finally said.

That wasn't a yes.

"Look, we'll tell you all about it when we get back. Until then, stop throwing yourself a pity party and get some rest. We have work to do." Sam hung up.

Harry scowled. Pity party, indeed. Although, some rest did sound awfully tempting.

He pushed himself out of the chair and headed to his room.

III

"Home sweet home," Dean muttered as pulled up to the Bunker. It had been a long drive and he was exhausted. Ahead of them was just more work. They had to deal with Harry as well as Jack. Not to mention the witch and wizard that were currently in residence. Sam wouldn't stop his goddamned kumbaya shit about the kid. And that was even before dealing with the fact that their mother was gone as was Cas, with Crowley and the son-of-a-bitch Sirius Black in the wind.

"Hey Jack," Sam said to the youngest of the three of them. "We're gonna have to do some work on the wards so that you can enter. Would you mind waiting here for a couple of minutes?" They were actually already in the wards, which is why he didn't worry about leaving Jack out here by himself, but he wanted a couple of minutes to assess the temperature in the Bunker before bringing in a wildcard.

"Oh," Jack said after he had opened the passenger side door of the backseat.

"Just stay in the car, kid," Dean growled, closing the door he had opened. "But don't you hurt her!"

"I won't!" Jack promised and he closed the door behind him.

Sam and Dean walked to the entrance.

"Dean, wait a second," Sam said before they actually stepped inside. "If you, Harry, and I are gonna do this, keep Jack on the right side of things, then – then we have to be on the same page."

Dean sighed with annoyance. "Ok. Well, that's the problem, though, Sam, 'cause we're not on the same page. Like, at all."

"Alright. You know what? I know what's going on here."

The eldest Winchester fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Oh. Ok," he agreed sarcastically. "Well, please, tell me, what's going on here?"

"You thinking Mom is gone and Cas is gone, and that Jack can't be saved." He stopped for a second to consider his words. "Dean, after everything we've gone through… We just lost people we love, people who have been in our lives for a long time. Everything's upside-down. I get it. But we've been down before. I mean, rock bottom. And we find a way." He paused for emphasis. "We fix it because that's what we do. And Jack w – wants to do the right thing. Jack's scared to death of who he is, and he's scared of you."

Dean snorted. "Good," he said. He wasn't going to dignify the rest of that speech with a response as he heaved open the door to the Bunker.

Behind his back, Sam grimaced but followed his brother.

There was no one in the front hall, but they heard voices coming from the kitchen. They went to investigate. In front of them was something that neither of them had ever imagined they would see.

Molly Weasley was sitting across the table from Donna Hanscom, both with mugs and looking like they were having a great time.

"Dean, Sam!" Donna said when she spotted them. She jumped up to give them both hugs, which they returned. Then she punched Dean on the arm.

"Ow," he said, mostly out of courtesy. "What was that about?"

"As if you don't know," she said. "You could've asked for help earlier. Imagine my shock when I found out that you had another brother!"

"Not many people know, Donna," Sam said in their defense. "He – uh, he was dead for a little bit."

"As if that ever kept a Winchester down," Donna responded.

"Oh, you're right, Donna dear. My, Harry's died at least twice. And Sam was dead for a while a couple of years ago. We thought Dean was gone too, but…"

Dean cleared his throat.

"Speaking of the boy wonder, where's Harry?" He asked, not wanting to recount his many encounters with death just now. Or ever. Jeez, he needed a drink.

"He's just having a kip," Molly said. "Poor dear is still on the mend. I thought I was going to have to slip a sleeping potion into his tea, but he was so tired that he fell asleep all on his own."

Sam and Dean exchanged a quick, concerned, glance between the two of them. It didn't sound like Harry was getting better.

"We'll just go check on him then," Sam said. "Will you two ladies be alright in here?"

Molly looked like she had something to say about that, but Donna beat her to it. "What do we look like to you? Go, get, check on that handsome brother of yours."

Sam and Dean didn't need to be told twice.

III

They found Ted sitting vigil outside of Harry's room.

Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "Teddy?"

"Ted," the young man scowled back as he scrambled to his feet.

"What'cha doing?" Dean asked.

"Making sure this wanker doesn't leave again," Ted said. "I swear – I had no idea that he even could leave his bed much less commit grand theft auto and leave the Bunker."

"Yeah, he's a slippery one," Dean said, somewhat darkly.

"We don't blame you Teddy – Ted," Sam added, catching himself at the last moment. "When Harry's determined to do something he's damn near impossible to stop."

Relief flooded Teddy's face and Sam felt bad. He had never intended to made Teddy feel like he was responsible for Harry.

"But don't worry, he'll think twice before doing it again," Dean said, moving towards the door handle.

"Dean…" Sam started.

"What? He was a dumbass. Like always. Aren't you pissed?"

"Well, yeah. But going in there guns blazing might not…"

Dean ignored Sam and stormed past both his brother and Teddy to enter the room.

Harry was sitting up in bed. He looked like total dogshit and it was almost enough to quell Dean's anger. Almost.

"You're an asshole," Dean said to him, with less heat than he had originally intended.

Harry narrowed his eyes slightly. "Nice to see you too, Dean."

"If you think…"

"If I think what?" Harry challenged. It seemed like he was prepared for this fight. "You went into battle without me. I could have helped, Dean. If you and Gabriel and Sam hadn't bound my grace, then…"

"Then you would have killed yourself again," Dean said bluntly, not backing down an inch.

"Dean!" Harry exclaimed, looking at his godson.

"You think he doesn't know? And were you thinking about what you were doing to him with your little vanishing act? Some godfather you are…"

"Hey!" Sam and Ted said at the same time.

Harry looked down but he wasn't cowed. "And you? If you had died, how do you think Teddy would feel?"

"That – that doesn't…" Dean sputtered.

"Harry, that was reckless," Sam finally chimed in for Dean. "You agreed to stay here. We were worried. Something bad could have happened to you. Something bad did happen to you."

"What? I was arrested and then attacked by Crowley's minions. Come on, that's child's play for us," Harry said flippantly.

"Wait. Hold on a second. Crowley sent someone after you?" Dean didn't know what the demon had been up to since he had vanished with Sirius Black, but sending someone after Harry seemed… ill-advised.

"Yeah. Some friend you've got there. The dick wanted to take me to Crowley to gain favor and said something about him having something before Donna and I tag-teamed killing him."

Both Sam and Dean winched. Harry didn't miss it.

"What do you know that I don't?"

"Many things," Dean quipped.

Sam cleared his throat. "He – uh. Well…" Sam started, not quite sure how to drop the bomb that Sirius Black was not only alive but also on this plane and Crowley had kidnapped him. He guessed. Or that Harry's godfather had killed Cas. He wasn't even sure that Harry would care about that – but he knew that Dean did.

"Sam…" Harry said, a slight threat in his voice. His younger brother shifted slightly.

"Don't take that tone with him," Dean said gruffly. "Look, things went sideways and…" Dean suddenly remembered that Teddy was in the room. It was bad enough that they were going to have to break this news to Harry, this didn't need the kid to complicate things. "Ted. You should go."

Teddy frowned. "I'm not a kid," he said, "I want to hear what happened too."

"Yeah, you are," Dean said, not giving an inch. "And this isn't a conversation for you."

"Ted, why don't you go check on Molly and Donna," Sam suggested, trying to find a nicer way to get the young man out of the room. "I'm sure that Donna wants to catch up with you."

"No," Ted stood his ground as well. "I have the same right to hear what's happening as Harry does."

"No, you really don't," Dean said. "Scram," he didn't have any patience for this. He wanted to hurry through this conversation with Harry so that he could take a shower and go to bed. Maybe in the morning, dealing with the spawn of Satan and the manhunt for Sirius Black would seem less daunting.

Sam sighed. "Ted, we have a lot to fill Harry in on. He can decide what to tell you later, but…"

"Really, Harry," Ted challenged his godfather who had been infuriatingly quiet during all of this. "You're gonna let them treat me this way?"

"Teddy please," Harry pleaded and Ted's face fell, knowing that he was going to take Sam and Dean's side. Again. "I'm exhausted. I want to hear how everything went tits up without me and then get back to sleep. Once I've rested, I'll come to talk to you. You can yell at me more then."

Teddy clenched his jaw. "Fine. Whatever." He turned to leave but then remembered something. "Hey. Isn't there a baby you're supposed to be sitting?"

"Yes," Sam said at the same time that Dean said, "No."

"He ain't exactly a baby," Dean explained, even though that was more information than he wanted to give Teddy.

"I'm sorry – what? Did Kelly not give birth to the child?" Harry wasn't following.

"She did," Sam said. "But he – he's not a baby. Um. He's in a lot of danger, right? So, he kind of…grew up quick."

"Understatement. Kid looks like he's ready to sign up for the draft. And he's fine – actually, he's sitting in Baby, so he's great. Better than all of us."

"So, he's my age?" Teddy asked.

"At least he looks like he is," Sam said. "He can read and write and speak English but everything is still very new to him. We left him in the car so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by all the greetings. I think it would be best for him to stay out there until after we've had this conversation."

Dean snorted. "I'm less convinced that he's so innocent. He is the Antichrist."

Harry frowned. "He's not the Antichrist."

Dean rolled his eyes and then glared at Sam. "You get to him already? Send him some sort of freaky wizard message?"

Sam held his hands up to contest his guilt.

"He didn't get to me, Dean," Harry said. "I've not been secretly communicating with Sam. But that kid's no more the Antichrist than I am. He's just…a baby."

"Maybe that's what he wants us to think," Dean argued.

"Dean…" Sam started, giving a pointed look to Teddy.

"Right," he said. "Teddy. Out."

Teddy had been hoping that in their bickering that they might forget his presence here. He scowled and headed towards the door.

"Wait – Teddy," Sam said, he had an idea. He knew that Harry and Dean wouldn't go for it, but if he phrased it just right then he would get the outcome he was looking for. Teddy hesitated. "There's a reason we left Jack in the car. We need to make sure that it is both safe for him and safe for us. He's not the Antichrist but he doesn't have control over his powers just yet. Please stay inside."

"Sure thing, Uncle Sam," Teddy said with a grin as he walked out of the room. The round of groans that he heard behind him only made him smile a little wider.

III

"Really, Sam?" Harry asked. "Now there is a virtual guarantee that he's going to seek Jack out."

"Well, we better keep this conversation quick then," Sam replied. Dean knew that was exactly what his youngest brother wanted. Although he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Harry, there's no easy way to say this…" Sam started to hedge.

"Your dickwad of a godfather was in Limbo and he'd killed Cas before crossing over into this world and now Crowley has him," Deans supplied before giving Sam a look that read something like what was so hard about that?

"Dean!"

"My godfather," Harry said back slowly as if he couldn't even fathom those words coming out of Dean's mouth. "Sirius Black?"

"You got any other godfathers?" Dean challenged.

"Um – no, not unless Mom and Dad…wait. Where is Mom? Is she out in the car with Jack? Is that why you sent Teddy out there, Sam?"

Sam sighed. Dean's face became steely.

"Why don't we start at the beginning?" Sam finally said. "First – before Jack was born, he opened a rift to Limbo…"

III

Ted was annoyed to be banished from the room like a child. He was in his twenties. He long since should be promoted to the grown-up table.

He didn't really feel like talking to Gran Weasley either who seemed to be in a happy conversation with Donna about the wizarding world now that she had been given the go ahead. Apparently, the International Statute of Secrecy didn't mean anything to anyone anymore.

Well, if they were going treat him like a child, he'd have to seek out other children, even though he had been expressly forbidden from doing so. Other than his Gran, he was currently the most powerful wizard in the Bunker, so who would stop him with her distracted?

Sitting in the backseat of the Impala, just outside the door of the Bunker, was a guy that looked to be about Teddy's age. They had told him that the Nephilim had aged up quickly, but somehow, he was still imagining a super powerful baby being left in the car. Which was ludicrous, thinking back on it. If Ted didn't know any better, he would have thought that the blonde-haired man was just a regular bloke.

Although it was a little strange that he was examining his arms as if they were foreign objects. He seemed crazy, not dangerous.

Ted knocked on the window.

Jack started and all the windows on the car burst.

"Wotcher!" Ted said, holding his hands up to show that he wasn't a threat. "Sorry to startle you there, mate. I'm Ted. Lupin. I'm Harry's godson. Sam and Dean are my uncles."

"Ted Lupin," Jack repeated back, tilting his head slightly. "I'm Jack."

"Cheers," Ted replied. "I've heard all about you and just thought I'd come out here and say…hi."

Jack frowned a little but didn't respond.

"Are you alright?" Ted asked, moving gingerly to sit next to Jack in the car. Another odd thing – the kid was sitting in the middle of the backseat. But he supposed that probably helped protect him from the glass.

"I – yes. Are you? Did I hurt you? Sometimes I hurt people and I don't mean to."

"Nah, I'm just fine. A little surprised. Uh – do you know how to fix the windows?" He looked around at the carnage around them.

"No," Jack said.

"Well, Dean would bust a nut if he saw this, so why don't you let me take care of it?" Ted didn't wait for a reply before pulling out his wand and casting a quick reparo.

Jack looked at him curiously. "You're a wizard," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, yeah, of course. Didn't Sam and Dean tell you?"

"Sam and Dean didn't mention you."

"Ouch," Teddy said.

"You said that you weren't hurt!" Jack said with no lack of concern.

"No…no. Just my feelings, I suppose," Ted said. He looked down. "We're family, you know? And they knew that I was back here waiting for them. Maybe they're mad at me."

"Oh. Dean is mad at me," Jack said. "Although, I'm not really sure why."

"He's just an angry guy," Ted said. "I wouldn't let it worry you too much."

"That's what Sam said," Jack said. "He said that Dean is scared which makes him frustrated which makes him angry."

"What does Sam think he's Yoda now?" Ted joked.

Jack just gave him a vague look.

"We'll have you watch Star Wars," Ted said. When Ben found out that he hadn't seen the movies they had an immediate movie marathon. "Look, I don't pretend to understand Dean. But his default mode is angry. I'm sure he'll get over it."

Jack didn't look convinced.

"Hey – why are you sitting out here anyway? Let's go inside. I know that Harry is looking forward to meeting you."

"Dean told me to stay here. And is he really?"

"Yeah. The git tried to get off his death bed to come and help Sam and Dean with you."

"Does Harry hate me too?"

"What? No! How could he? You're…well you're not really a baby, but you're just a kid. Harry would never hurt a kid. Not if he could help it."

"But Dean – "

"Fuck Dean," Ted said. "He's not your father. Sounds like he's been a bit an arse to you, mate. Come inside, meet Harry. My gran is visiting and she's been cooking all day. You've got to be hungry."

Jack thought for a second. "I am," he said and smiled. "Did she make any nougat? I like nougat."

Ted laughed. "I doubt it. But she'll have tons of other good sweets."

It didn't take any more than that to convince Jack, who followed Ted out of the Impala and towards the entrance of the Bunker.

III

"That went well," Dean said as he and Sam walked out of Harry's room. He wasn't sure if Harry was completely devastated, overwhelmed, furious, or some sort of combination of all those things. By the end of their explanations, their middle brother's eyes had completely glazed over and he asked to be left alone.

"We shouldn't have laid all of that on him at once," Sam hissed.

"Why? He's always on us, to be honest, so, we were honest. He's a big boy, he can handle it."

"Dean. What the hell is wrong with you, man? First Jack now Harry? They didn't kill Cas. They didn't force Mom to fall into the rift."

"Neither of them seems overly upset about it."

Sam gave Dean a bitchface.

"Alright, fine," Dean said, deflating a little bit. He ran a hand through his hair. "And if we hadn't destroyed Harry's magic then he would have been there helping us and…"

"We didn't destroy his magic," Sam snapped. "We bound it. For his protection. Once he heals…"

"He doesn't look like he's healed at all since we did it!"

"Because he's human now – a Muggle. It takes time. We have to give him time. Jack too. Between the two of them, I am sure that we can get through to Limbo, rescue Mom, and forget all of this ever happened."

"You really think it's gonna be that easy?"

"No. When is it ever easy? But it is possible."

Dean didn't look convinced.

III

After Sam and Dean left him, Harry, for the first time in a long time, really wanted a drink. It was the only way that he could think to truly clear all the thoughts and emotions swirling through his mind.

He didn't even know where to start.

Losing Gabriel was unthinkable to Harry. Although he was often an irritating presence in Harry's life, Harry owed his very existence to the man. He knew that Gabriel loved his joke about being in love with Harry – which honestly, he took too far most of the time, but all jokes aside, Harry cared deeply for the archangel. It was too painful to even contemplate that he was dead – in fact, Harry refused to believe it. Lucifer couldn't out trickster the Trickster, of course.

As if contemplating the death of one of his closest friends wasn't hard enough, the added blow of Mary was… he couldn't even allow himself to finish the thought. He was just getting to know his mother – his real, birth mother.

Dean believed strongly that their mom and Gabriel were dead – both killed by Lucifer. The utter devastation on his older brother's face reminded Harry strongly of the time after Sam had gone to Hell. Harry could tell that Sam was more optimistic. He felt like he was somewhere in between.

He really needed that drink. (And any other time he would have summoned one already.)

Harry forced his mind to focus on the one positive of what he had just heard. Sirius.

He couldn't believe that his godfather was alive. The knowledge that he was trapped in Purgatory had eaten at Harry in his last days before going to Heaven, but with a great deal of guilt, he realized that he hadn't really given it much thought since he had been back. When he had actually had the power to do something about it, he hadn't bothered. Soon enough, Harry hoped and dreaded, he was going to have to explain himself to his godfather.

As painful as that reunion was going to be it was something that he could actually focus on. Harry pushed the grief from Gabriel and Mary down and decided to focus on starting to plan on how he could save Sirius.

Grief was replaced with anger when he realized Sirius was still not safe. He was in the hands of his brothers' sometime ally, the King of Hell. Who knew what kind of shape he was in? He couldn't believe that he had let Sam and Dean talk him out of killing the smarmy git so many times.

If he were still an angel – if he still had his powers, at least then, he could do something. But his brothers had taken that from him. And they were unlikely to help him in the search, seeing as they claimed that Sirius had killed Castiel.

That was a whole other wave of emotions.

Harry was far from Castiel's biggest fan. He and the angel had never seen eye-to-eye and that was before the incident surrounding his death. When Harry had been an angel – especially one that was more powerful than Castiel himself, it had felt low to continue to blame him for helping to push him over the edge. And coming off hundreds of years in Heaven, filled with healing, he had felt above it all.

Now, sitting here powerless on a bed, more human than he had been since he had returned, he couldn't help the resentment from forming. Not only towards Castiel himself, but also his brothers for continuing to work with the man who had played a large part in his death.

He knew that he wasn't as important to his brothers as they were to each other, but he had thought that he had ranked above the wayward angel they had adopted along the way.

Hadn't he done everything he could to help them?

Hadn't he given everything to keep them alive?

Harry didn't need hero worship for it but there was a deep part of his heart that ached when he realized that Dean had more concern for the angel that had betrayed him and Sam and aided in Harry's death than he did for Harry.

Now that he was powerless (thanks to his brothers – and Gabriel, he supposed) he could see even more how little he mattered. They had left him behind. And they would continue to leave him behind – especially if he never gained his abilities back.

To make matters worse there was nothing that he could do about it. He was stuck here – in this Bunker, hell, in this bed.

Now that Sam and Dean were back, he knew that his chances of sneaking off to get anything done were extremely slim. Not without them.

He was in no position to power his way through their wills this time.

Hot tears of anger started rolling down his cheeks and he quickly brushed them away. Even with no one to witness those tears he felt embarrassed.

Harry may be physically weak but he refused to succumb to his own sadness this time. After all, for once, this wasn't his fault. He hadn't asked to be brought back. He hadn't volunteered to be kidnapped by a crazed Prince of Hell. And he sure as hell hadn't allowed his powers to be bound so that he was useless. If Gabriel was alive, he would have a lot to answer for, but Harry wasn't blind. He knew that without the cooperation of Sam and Dean that this wouldn't've been possible.

All his emotions simmered close to the surface. But there was no accompanying power behind them. And that only fueled the fire. He didn't know what he had done to deserve to be cursed with brothers that were so controlling that they shot themselves (or rather him) in the foot. If they had just let him be, he could have solved all of their problems. He was sure that between himself and Gabriel that they would have been able to take on Lucifer. Not just that, but was the supposed Angel of Death. Maybe he could have prevented Kelly's death. Allowed her to live for her son.

What was the kid's name again? He asked himself.

Jack.

Harry could feel him. Or, at least a pull towards something. It wasn't as pronounced as it had been when he had his full powers but there was a tiny spark of magic in him that recognized the kid as his – well, he wasn't sure exactly what he was to him. Nephew, perhaps was the closest? Cousin? Family, in any case.

That made him let out a mirthless laugh.

Now, more than ever, he couldn't help but wonder what good family had ever done for him. Blood family, at least. Ron and Hermione may have their faults but they never would have done to him what Sam and Dean had.

But maybe Jack would be different. Harry didn't know the kid, but he had felt him enough and been in the presence of Kelly enough to know that there was good in him.

And maybe he was the key to getting Harry out of this situation. He knew that Jack was powerful. Probably more powerful than Harry had been.

Could he also be more powerful than Gabriel?

That lit the wand in Harry's head. Jack could be the answer. He could remove whatever binding had been placed on him. Even if it hurt, Harry knew that he could handle it. Handling pain was something that he was particularly adept at.

Getting his powers back meant getting Sirius back. And safe. Then, he would rip the world open himself if he had to, to get into Limbo and either rescue Gabriel and Mom or kill the Devil for good for what he had done.

As angry as he was at Sam and Dean at this moment, he couldn't help but feel like if he rescued Mom, maybe they would see him as an equal at last. (He wouldn't allow himself to think it – but maybe they would finally love and respect him as they loved and respected each other.)

And all he had to do was get to Jack.

But first, he had to get out of this bed. He'd have to find a time to pull the boy aside privately but he was sure that he could manage that. It wasn't like he had to fully sneak out of the Bunker again.

He sighed deeply. Even though he was tired, he heaved himself up and out of bed. Now was as good a time as any.

III

Molly couldn't help but feel overwhelming sympathy and love for the blond-haired child that walked through the door of the kitchen.

She didn't understand what kind of magic could make a baby turn into a young man so quickly but all she saw before her was somehow who needed some love. He reminded her strongly of Harry standing on that platform, alone and lost, all those years ago.

"Oh, dear," she said. "You must be Jack," she said.

The young man looked up at her brightly and rose a single hand and said, "Hello!"

"Come here," she said, and promptly pulled him into a hug. This seemed to surprise the young man, but he leaned into it. When she pulled away from him, she had slight tears in her eyes. "You poor thing," she said, "losing your mother like that."

"Gran…" Teddy started, feeling embarrassed by proxy. Really, Jack didn't need that thrown in his face in that way.

"Hush, you," Molly said to him. "Now, Jack, all the children call me Gran, I want you to do the same. I know that you are new – but what are your favorite foods? You look like you could use a proper feeding up."

Teddy decided to let Jack tell Gran about his love for nougat on his own and went to go talk to Donna, who was watching this whole scene with wide eyes.

"That's him?" She asked when Ted came over to her. He nodded. "He looks – normal. No horns or nothin' – that's the kid that Sam and Dean are so scared of?"

"Well, he did explode all the windows on the Impala just a couple of minutes ago," Ted said dryly. "But…"

"He WHAT?" Dean, of course, chose this moment to walk into the room. "What happened to my Baby?"

"Nothing," Ted said a little too quickly while wincing.

"You," he said, pointing at Jack, who turned to him, slightly white in the face. "You better not have hurt my Baby," Dean promptly turned and stormed out of the room.

"I - I didn't…I didn't mean…"

"It's alright, Jack," Ted said with an eye roll. "He's bonkers about that car, and I fixed it, so even he can't justify staying mad about it."

"Samuel, is that how you and Dean speak to that child?" Molly asked, completely serious and looking furious.

Sam couldn't keep the look of shame from his face. "I don't talk to him that way. Dean – um, well, he'll come around."

Molly bristled and stood up a little taller, a look of determination on her face. "Bloody right, he'll come around, if I have to beat it into him," she quickly moved to follow the path that Dean had stormed off into, a look of pure determination on her face.

Donna whistled. "I've only known Molly for a couple of hours, but I don't envy Dean one bit right now."

"Yeah, well, maybe she can talk some sense into him," Sam muttered darkly, although he doubted that it would be, as deep as his brother had shoved his head up his own ass.

"What is – " Donna started but then became aware of the two boys still standing in the kitchen.

"Hey, Teddy, why don't you help Jack pick out a room? Start getting him settled in."

"It's Ted," Teddy repeated. "But, yeah, sure. Come on, Jack, I'm sure they're going to be talking about boring shit anyway. Personally, I don't want to hear whatever Freudian explanation Sam has to explain Dean being a complete and total twat anyway. I think he was just born that way."

Jack didn't question Teddy but seemed happy to follow him out of the kitchen.

"Things going that well, eh?" Donna asked Sam.

"Better," Sam said sarcastically, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do. We – uh, we just lost a lot, and Dean's angry. Understandably. I'm angry too – but we don't have time to wallow in it. Our mom could still be alive. I have to believe that she is. And if we waste time arguing and yelling at Jack for something that he didn't do on purpose is useless."

"Well, if anyone has a chance to get through to him, it'd be Molly," Donna said. "That woman is somethin' else. I'd like to be her when I grow up."

Sam snorted.

"She's got six sons and a daughter that may have been more trouble than the others combined."

Donna frowned a little. "She told me that she had seven sons – but that one of them had passed."

Sam considered this. "She might be counting Harry," he said. He had mixed feelings about that. Harry had a mother – one that was missing. But, at the same time, he couldn't help but think about how having a mother figure like Molly would have been amazing for him growing up and couldn't begrudge Harry that.

"Ah. Yes. She really does seem to love him. She's got a big heart for someone who has lost so much."

"She does," Sam replied. The Weasley matriarch had always made him feel welcome. He wondered just how many orphans she had adopted over the years.

"And that brother of yours. He's good people, I can tell," Donna said.

Sam was a little lost in thought and just gave a non-committal sort of hum in response.

"He's not really like you and Dean, is he?"

That got Sam's attention. "What do you mean?"

"He's strong, sure. But there is something a little more…vulnerable about him. Something about that man just makes you want to hug him until all the sad comes out."

Sam laughed. "You don't want to hug Dean and me?" He asked, giving her his patented puppy dog eyes.

She laughed and smacked him on the arm. "Of course. But I'm never sure if you'd accept 'em."

"That's never stopped you."

"Sure hasn't," she said as she stood and hugged him. "Now, I've got to skedaddle – gotta get back to sheriffing."

"Thank you, Donna," Sam said, returning the hug. "We really appreciate the assist."

"Anytime, handsome," she said. "You take good care of yourself for me. And those brothers of yours. Molly seems to think you're the only one with your head on straight and I'm inclined to agree."

Sam felt that deeply. He was both flattered and exacerbated by it. Brother wrangling was quickly becoming his biggest job.

"Thanks, Donna," he repeated. "I will. Let us know if you need anything. Ever – we owe you one. Or half a dozen."

"Of course," Donna winked. "I'll be checking in on you boys." With one last hug, she left.

III

Dean sat in the driver's seat of the Impala after giving it a thorough look over and driving it into the Bunker's garage. He was enjoying a moment of quiet and solitude after weeks of nothing but non-stop chaos. Between trying to save Harry from demons – both his own and the torturing kind, chasing down Cas and Kelly, fighting the British Men of Letters, losing half his family to death or another dimension, and the birth of the anti-Christ, Dean felt that this was justified.

But, of course, it was also short-lived.

He should have known to expect the red-haired matriarch of the Weasley family and yet it still surprised him. She slid into the passenger side of the car.

He sighed. "You gonna lecture me again?" He asked her. He could only imagine what she might have to say about this whole Jack and Harry situation. Over the years they had spoken enough that he knew when he was in for a well-meaning, tough-love, talk from her. She was often brutally honest but Dean always found it difficult to argue with her points. It both infuriated him and endeared her to him.

"Would it work?" She asked.

He gave her a side-eyed glance. "Hasn't it before?"

"You would know better than me. But I've raised enough young men to know when someone's pain is so great that they are taking it out on all of those around them. Merlin, you remind me more and more of Harry every time we talk."

Dean snorted.

"Dean, I'm not going to pretend to understand what you're going through. This whole…Devil and alternate universe business are beyond me. But I do understand loss. And grief. And needing time to have a good cry."

"I don't need to cry," Dean immediately defended.

"Everyone needs to cry," Molly returned. "And I don't know why you and your brothers always seem to be in the middle of such nonsense. Life has thrown a lot at you. More than you deserve. But you need to remember that you don't have to face it alone."

"Oh?" Dean asked, having a hard time taking this talk. He couldn't manage to hold back his next words, "Are you going to deal with the Devil's kid for us?"

"I'm not talking about doing anything for you," Molly came back, not intimidated or impressed. "I'm talking about being here when you need a moment. I'm talking about a sympathetic ear. I know that your father…"

"You don't know shit about my dad," Dean said sharply, not liking the direction this conversation was going.

Molly was still unimpressed. She pursed her lips. "Don't I? You can tell a lot about a parent from their adult children. And I've gleaned enough over the years to know that it is likely that you don't want to be the same kind of father to Jack that he was to you."

"My dad was a hero," Dean said stubbornly. "And I'm not Jack's father."

"No, you're not. But you are an adult in his life. Do you want to Jack to grow up not knowing the love of a parent? We've seen how that turns out and it's not pretty."

Dean felt like he had been slapped. "My dad loved me," he snapped. John had his faults, but one of them wasn't a lack of love for his boys. How that love manifested itself…well, it hardly mattered now. He was long gone and didn't deserve to have his name spat on by someone who had never even met him.

"I'm not talking about you," Molly said sharply. "I'm talking about Harry."

"Harry had you."

Molly gave him a look. "One of my biggest regrets is not taking that boy home with me every single break. Now, I wouldn't normally share this with anyone, since it is up to Harry to tell, but I am trusting you Dean Winchester. And I'm not sure he could put it into words even if he wanted to. Harry was not loved as a child. He thinks that this is because there is something in him that makes him unworthy of love."

Dean scoffed. "That's not true, he knows that Sam and I…" it was hard for him to say the words, "love him. He's our brother."

Molly raised an eyebrow. "Does he? Take some time to think on it. Does he act like a man who has a family that loves him unconditionally?"

Dean already knew the answer to that. And it made him very uncomfortable. And defensive. "Not our fault…"

"I'm not blaming you, dear," she interrupted. "Honestly, I'm not sure that there is anything that you and Sam could do. Ron and Hermione have been trying for years without being able to convince him. But he believes that he still needs to earn his place in your family. And, as you have seen, he is willing to risk every piece of himself to get there. That is the result of his childhood not loved by those around him. Now, is that the same kind of childhood that you want for Jack? Power aside, is that the kind of man that you want him to be?"

That kind of loyalty to us might not be a bad thing, in Jack's case, Dean considered. He didn't like the part of himself that thought that. Not only because it made him question what kind of man he was; but also, because if Jack's loyalty was to Lucifer already like that…well, if he was like Harry, that meant that there was nothing that they could do to make him good. He'd raise Heaven and Hell. He shivered.

Molly seemed to have said her piece. She patted Dean on the knee. "Well, dear, I think that it's time that I leave you boys to it. My grandchildren will be back from school any day now and I would like the spend the summer with them. They grow so fast and before you know it…" She trailed off and got out of the car.

Dean decided that he would allow himself another couple of minutes of brooding. Molly had given him, even more, to think about and he wasn't sure how he was going to proceed.

III

"I think this is a great choice, Jack," Teddy said when Jack declared the bedroom next to his to be the "right" one. "It'll make it easy for us to send messages back and forth," he said.

"Messages?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Teddy said with a grin. He conjured a piece of paper. "Stay here," he ordered.

Jack stayed where he was, still confused. He liked Teddy. He was very different from Sam and Dean. He seemed to actually like him and treated him…well he wasn't sure how he treated him, but not in the way that Sam and Dean did. He wasn't afraid.

A piece of paper folded in a shape that Jack recognized from his mother's mind. Paper airplane. He caught it out of the air and examined it. He flipped it over and saw the spells that Teddy had used to get it into this shape as he traced his fingers over the creases.

"Open it!" Teddy shouted from the other side of the wall.

Oh. Right. A message. With great care, Jack opened the note. It said, "Wotcher, Jack!"

Jack smiled. The script was elegant and it had also been spelled in there.

"What are you waitin' for?" Teddy asked. "Send it back to me."

Jack frowned a little. He didn't know the spells that Teddy had used. He had never used magic in that way before.

"I – "

"You can do it!" Teddy encouraged.

Jack grit his teeth. He didn't want to let Ted down. It wasn't like he was asking for anything complicated. He could see the remnants of the spell. With concentration, he copied what he saw and spelled words onto the paper. He smiled as they formed. He could do this! A couple of swift hand movements later, the paper was refolded and sent flying.

"Yeah!" Teddy said. He came into the room looking thrilled, which made Jack's stomach flip a little.

"You've got to read it!" Jack said.

"Oh, right," Teddy started to open the airplane.

"No! In your room, 'cause it's a secret."

Teddy looked amused and went off to his room without a complaint. He sent the airplane back within a minute. Jack opened it. Under his message, "Hi Ted, it's nice to meet you," Teddy had written back, "It's nice to meet you too! Let's be friends."

"Do you mean it?" Jack asked, hope in his voice.

"Of course!" Ted responded. "I'd be lucky to have a friend like you. And Merlin knows that we're gonna have to keep each other sane with those Winchesters around."

Jack didn't think he had ever felt so happy in his life. "Friends, then. I've never had a friend before."

"Well, just you wait, I've got so many people to introduce you to. My best mate, Ben, of course. And Claire. You'll like her. She seems mean but she's all heart. And I haven't even started in on my cousins. First, there's Victoire…Harry!"

Jack looked up sharply. There, in the hallway was the man that he had only ever seen through his mother's eyes. But he seemed…different.

"What are you doing?" Ted asked. All the friendliness had bled out of his voice and Jack was shocked to hear him sound so upset.

"I thought you'd recognize someone walking, Teds," Harry retorted.

Ted scowled. "You shouldn't be! You're never going to get better if you don't rest."

"Yes, you've made your feelings abundantly clear. But last I checked I'm the adult and…"

"I'm an adult too! I'm not some kid, Harry. And you're hurt."

"He's hurt?" Jack asked, and before anyone could stop him, he reached out and touched Harry on the head.

"Harry!" Ted called out – worried about what the influx of grace was going to do to his godfather.

Harry shook his head a little and stumbled back a step.

"I healed him!" Jack said with a smile on his face. "Now you don't have to be angry with each other anymore."

Teddy's eyes hadn't moved from Harry, looking at him carefully. All the visible bruises disappeared and the hollow in his cheeks seemed to decrease. And he wasn't writhing on the ground in pain, so that was something too.

"I'm alright," Harry said, after conducting his own evaluation. "I feel more awake than I have in…well ages."

"Can you do magic?" Ted asked.

Harry tried a silent nox on the light in the corridor of the Bunker. Nothing. And he felt nothing. No pain, so there was that, but also no magic. He shook his head and tried to ignore the relieved look on Teddy's face.

"One thing at a time, I suppose," he said, sounding disappointed. For the first time, he turned to look at the young man that he supposed had to be Jack. "Hello," he said. "You must be Jack."

Jack nodded and raised a hand in a gesture of greeting. "Hello. You're Harry?"

"I am. But how do you know that?"

"Well," Jack started slowly and deliberately. "Ted said your name. But also, I recognize you. You knew my mother."

"Right," Harry said discomfort in his voice. "Sam and Dean mentioned…"

"You already talked to Sam and Dean about me?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. A little. Look, I don't know how much you know about…"

"Harry!" Sam entered the hallway. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"I'm not an invalid," Harry grouched. "Especially now. Jack healed me. And, actually, I'm starving."

Sam gave Jack a sidelong glance. "And it…uh…didn't hurt?"

"No, now would you stop being a mother hen and move out of the way so that I can go to the kitchen?"

Sam moved out of his way and shot Teddy a confused look. Teddy just shrugged. Sam clapped Jack on the shoulder. "Good job, Jack. Did you also…"

"He still doesn't have his powers," Teddy explained.

"Ah. That explains the sour milk expression." Sam sighed and turned to leave, although he hesitated for a second. The drama of having two pissed-off older brothers was a little more than he wanted to deal with right now.

"It's alright, Uncle Sam," Ted said. "I'll go with you. Jack too. I can't wait to tell you what I just taught him…"

III

"What do you mean, she's a Muggle?" Mary came to in what, from what she could best tell, was a grass hut. There was a pole in the ground behind her where her hands were tied roughly behind her back.

Two men were talking just a couple of feet away from her. She was pretending to be unconscious to try and see what she could learn from their conversation. She was a little distracted, however, because the ropes were very poorly tied and it wouldn't take much for her to get out of them. Stupid, she thought to herself.

"Ain't got no magic," one was saying to the other. "I started the spell work to turn 'er and there was just….nothin'."

"Did you do the spells right?"

"Of course! What kinda duffer do ya take more for? The same we've used on the others."

"Asmodeus won't be pleased."

"Asmodeus ain't ever pleased. Did ya hear that he wants us to create four to five a day? Took him thousands of years to figure out how and now, he's got the nerve to demand…"

"I demand excellence," a southern-voiced joined the group. Mary tried her best to repress her shiver. Asmodeus. That was the demon that had tortured Henry. She clenched her fists. "We are in need of an army, gentlemen."

"Coop's gone and found a Muggle!" the second man in the room tattled on the first.

"A Muggle? In Limbo?" Asmodeus sounded interested. He approached her and kicked her side a little with his boot before bending down to be near her face. "You're not foolin' me," he said. "Who are you and how did you get here?"

Mary didn't see much point in hiding it. She looked up suddenly and spat directly in the demon's face. He slapped her across the face, which forced her cheek to the side with the force behind it. She could feel her lip bleeding. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.

"Mary Winchester!" He said with surprise. "Of all the gin joints…well, you're certainly a surprise. You didn't catch a witch, boys, but you got something far more valuable. I think we'll have to keep you."

She felt the ropes around her wrists tighten.

"You two are off catchin' duty. Your full-time job is to watch this woman and make sure she doesn't escape. She might just be our ticket out of here and back in the world."

"A Muggle, really?" One of the men asked with disdain in his voice. Asmodeus snapped his fingers and the man fell to the ground in agony.

"Don't question me," he said. "And this isn't just any Muggle. This is the Mother Winchester. I'm sure her boys will be along to get her out of this place. After all, I got very well acquainted with her middle child. I understand him. And if there's family that needs savin', well… I'm sure it's only a matter of time." With a smirk, he walked out the door. Mary's stomach sank.

Whew. This was a long one. With soooo much talking. I hope I didn't bore all y'all to tears, but I promise that soon there will be actual things happening.

I've gotten some flak from reviewers and commenters about how easily Harry forgave and forgot everything not only with Castiel, but also with his brothers. Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that. His time healing in Heaven plus the whole Asmodeus thing has had both more and less of an effect on him than he realizes. I hope y'all caught that he believes that Gabriel is messing with him when he hits on him/tells him that he loves him. That is, of course, not actually what Gabriel is doing. (Ok – he's teasing him some, but he really does love him.) I've been waiting to reveal Harry's thoughts on it for a while.

Jack and Teddy make me sooo happy. (Please note, I am not shipping them – Jack is a baby, he will be shipped with no one.) Their friendship is going to change the trajectory of the story from canon quite a bit. Sam didn't know quite what he was doing when he set that up.

Anyway, that was a lot of rambling on my part. If you'd like to see more rambling on my part, I've started a Tumblr account under the same name as my Ao3 account megonagall410. Do I know what I'm doing? No. Am I doing it anyway? Yes. I've started posting some deleted scenes from this series and hopefully other interesting content as well, if you're interested, check it out.

As always, thank you to all of you lovely readers. Your comments, reviews, and just general presence mean a lot to me. Love y'all!