Title: One last goodbye
author:Cinddy Ryan
category:missing scene for 14x8 Byzantium.
notes: may want a tissue
Dean Winchester somehow knew he wasn't dreaming. Even after all the whisky the hunter knew he wasn't hallucinating. Dean had been in enough otherworldly places to know the difference. He wasn't asleep and he wasn't seeing things. That didn't make the image before him any easier to look at. Jack Kline stood before him on the other side of the kitchen table. The same as Dean had last seen him. Except, well... much more like his old self.
"Dean."Jack greeted with a smile.
Before Dean could reply Lucifer's son reached for his right hand which rested on the table. The hand passed right through Dean's and the table. The action startled both Jack and Dean for a moment.
"I keep forgetting."Jack apologized as he straightened. "I can't touch things like I used to."
Jack's words were like a punch to Dean's heart. Another person gone that shouldn't be. Another person he let down. Another that Dean should have saved.
"Jack."Dean began but words failed him.
It was why he hadn't been able to stay in the room. His feelings were all over the map. As a hunter he was used to grief and loss. It was part of the job. However, Dean had been surprised at how much Jack's loss had affected him. From the start Sam had been the only one to try to establish a relationship with the Nephilim. For his own reasons and his Hell experience Dean had shoved Jack as far away as possible. The kid had been a reminder of what he'd endured and what Jack's father had done. That hadn't been fair and Dean knew it. Still he hadn't known how to move past it.
Jack had found a human nature and innocence had formed a bond in the family that was Cas, Dean and Sam. Dean had balked at it at first. Not wanting Jack in their midst. Not wanting any way for Lucifer to shatter the family that Dean held so dear. Then Jack had been there when Mary needed somebody to help in their escape from the alternate Michael. Dean's defensive wall had shattered. Little by little Jack had become family.
"Why are you here?"Dean asked after clearing his throat.
"I didn't get a chance to say goodbye."Jack replied sadly.
"We don't always get that chance."Dean responded quietly.
'He's our kid.'
Sam's grief stricken protest to Lilly surfaced in Dean's turbulent thoughts. With a start Dean realized Sam was right. With a hunters life Dean and Sam may never have a traditional family with a wife and two point five kids and the white picket fence. Dean had made his peace with that a long time ago. But Sam's words then and now clarified how much a part of their lives Jack had become.
"That's why I came back."Jack stated softly. "To say goodbye and thank you."
Dean's throat closed and his vision blurred. He blinked furiously to clear the tears that threatened. He reached for Jack then stopped remembering the kid was only a specter. Dean didn't want to say goodbye, couldn't. Knew he had to; knew this might be his only chance.
"You'll always be family."Dean proclaimed hoarsely.
There was so much more Dean wanted to say. So much more that should've been said.
Jack smiled.
Dean blinked and when he looked again to where Jack had been standing; the teen was gone.
"Goodbye, Jack."Dean said to the empty kitchen.
The hunter leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. In minutes he was asleep.
end