ULTIMATE DISCLAIMER IN PROFILE AND CHAPTER 1!
ULTIMATE WARNING IN PROFILE AND CHAPTER 1!
AU, OOC. Sort of bashing of HP characters, mostly a certain old, white bearded wizard. Hope you don't mind!
Hi, guys! Sorry for the longer wait, I just translated the story and did some other writing. But here is the next chapter of Jade's story! A secret comes to light that I think no one would've seen coming, and the brothers get into a fight. A big one.
I was thinking a lot about changing this part of the story, because I don't like writing anguish for Dean. I mean Dean from the series. My heart always breaks for him. I think that's the reason why I torture Sam so much, because Dean got the more suffering in the show, IMHO. But this is just me, I think. The explanation for this is a long one and I don't want to bore you with it, especially if you're not interested. However, I decided to leave it as it is, because this scene has some effect on the upcoming chapters and the story.
Alright, guys, enjoy!
The next few days passed by in good mood. The first days had been poisoned with some anger and sadness: Sam had told Jade's story to his brother and Bobby. Since then all three of them have done everything for the boy to feel safe and happy. In exchange they'd received delicious and fresh feasts, Jade giving his heart and soul into them. Now the teen could look into their eyes, but his irises were still jade-green. However, - like it happens all the time – after sunshine comes once a storm.
Sam, Dean and Bobby were sitting in the kitchen eating their breakfasts, waiting for their fourth companion to join them. All of a sudden, Jade stormed into the room and latched himself onto Sam, wrapping his arms tightly around the young man's neck. Sam immediately heard the panic in his charge's whispering, so he pulled the shaking body closer.
"Jade! Tell us what's wrong!" Sam spoke, shushing the boy. Dean and Bobby observed the scene worriedly.
"They're coming!" Jade raised his voice, but didn't move from his place. "They're coming to take me away! I don't want to go! Don't let them! Please!"
Sam tried to calm the boy again, this time a bit scared.
"What should we do?" Dean asked quietly, but his eyes reflected determination. Sam's hazel-green orbs did the same.
"Jade! You stay here with Dean and Bobby!" he ordered the boy who just tightened his hold on him with a frightened whimper. Sam quickly pried his charge from him and looked into jade-green eyes. "I won't let them take you away" he exclaimed firmly. "But I need you to stay in the fortress, understand?"
Jade didn't answer for a second then without a word he crawled into Dean's lap, who was waiting for him with open arms.
"What are you gonna do?" Dean asked his brother, wrapping his arms securely around a trembling Jade.
"You'll see" Sam replied coldly and stood up. He tenderly caressed Jade's locks then taking his jacket he walked out the entrance door. Dean sat Jade onto the couch in the living room and watched the events from the window. The boy embraced the man's waist from behind and Dean laid his hands on the small arms, holding them there firmly, causing a relieved sigh to break out of the teen.
Meanwhile, Sam trudged down the stairs and stopped in the middle of the yard, waiting patiently for the "delegation" to arrive. Soon a horde of wizards appeared in front of him with a great cloud of smoke. Their leader was an old man with a long, white beard, wearing a violet robe. Next to him stood a few black-robed wizards, their wands leveled at Sam. Amongst them was a stocky, wizened old man, his eyes sitting on his flabby face practically stabbed through the young man in their way. Sam looked over the team grimly, noticing with satisfaction that some of them shuddered. On top of that, he'd outgrown all of them with at least a foot.
"What the heck is Sam doing?" Bobby asked disbelievingly. Before Dean could have answered, he noticed a smile on his brother's face, like he'd heard it…
"Get out of our way, you scamp!" the stocky screamed, but the old man raised his hand to silence his companion.
"Let us our way!" the old man spoke in a calm and diplomatic voice. "We don't mean any harm! We'll just take what is ours and leave you in peace."
"If anyone moves, it will be the biggest mistake of their lives" hearing Sam's answer, Dean felt a shudder run down his spine from the cold-heartedness.
"Don't do anything foolish, son!" the old man tried to reason. "We own much greater powers than you can imagine."
"If you want to believe that, old man" Sam retorted with the same coolness.
"Alright" the old man shrugged. "Vernon!"
The stocky stepped forward and started screaming:
"BOY! YOU GET YOUR BLOODY ARSE OUT HERE IN THIS MINUTE!"
Sam's anger flared up hearing that, his nostrils flared and his hands fisted tightly, but he could hold himself back.
"Nononono, NO!" Dean turned towards the terrified shout.
"JADE!" he cried out, seeing as Jade walked out of the house, seemingly against his will: the boy's tears were streaming down his face.
"DON'T MAKE ME GO AFTER YOU!" the stocky screeched. Then on his face a disgustingly satisfied grin appeared; Sam immediately knew what happened: Jade came out of the house and he heard his brother bursting out, too, though Dean couldn't do anything.
The stocky stepped back behind the defense line of the wizards and they waited for Jade to return to them. Sam then noticed something in the old man's hand; he instantly knew what was going on.
Jade slowly, but steadily passed Sam, who saw the teary eyes and cheeks behind the black curtain of locks. In that moment he made the first move: a sharp snap of fingers shot through the yard.
After a couple of seconds Jade halted; the old man then noticed the lack and glanced at his enemy. With a wicked smirk Sam raised the small phial, one finger covering the mouth of it. The old man's eyes widened a bit, as a drop of blood fell from the young man's finger into the small amount of blood already in the phial. The dark-ruby liquid began swirling and shining in golden light that remained there. Suddenly one wizard stepped closer: Sam reached his free hand towards him, the nail of the middle finger digging into the flesh of his thumb, the others stretched out.
"I warned you" Sam whispered, but everyone heard him. He then shot his middle finger out like he just chased away a fly from his finger: the wizard in his aim flew out of the yard with an enormous force and flying into the blue sky he narrowed into a point; no one ever heard the wizard's landing. Dean and the black-robed wizards stared at the events with their mouths open from shock, but Sam, who lowered the hand holding the phial, and the old man just stared each other down.
"Jade, could you come behind me, please?" Sam asked full of kindness, which was unexpected coming from his tense, anger-filled body.
"Don't listen to him!" the old man spoke in a gentle, slightly caring voice that everyone instantly knew was faked. "He's going to hurt you. You saw it yourself."
Jade stared at the ground in shock, as his brain was going through the happenings frantically. Sam is a wizard, he's like them… And he's still not… He was so kind and gentle to him, not like the others… He suddenly darted away and ran behind Sam. The young man grinned smugly as he observed his enemies and their shock.
"Go to Dean!" he spoke again and his charge instantly obeyed. Dean embraced the boy, lifted him up and took him back to the house. Sam turned his still raised palm to the wizards, laughing inwardly at the startled flinch of the wizards.
"Out!" Sam commanded quietly and everyone disappeared. Sam lowered his arm and tried to calm down with his eyes closed. He was holding the phial tightly, shaking from rage, and the glass broke into pieces; one or two shards penetrated his skin. He returned into the house like this to face his brother and comfort his charge.
Sam's heart broke in two halves, when he heard the sobbing coming out of the living room. He silently walked through the room's door, but everyone pinned their gazes onto him. Sam, though, kept his eyes on Jade while he slowly kneeled down to the floor.
"Jade" he pleaded quietly to the frightened boy. Jade didn't need more: seeing as the young man slightly reached his hands out towards him, he jumped up and threw himself into Sam's arms.
"It's alright, my gorgeous" Sam whispered. "It's alright. They're gone."
"Would you be so kind to explain" Dean stood up from the couch, "what exactly happened out there?" Glancing up at his brother Sam saw relieved that the man's eyes didn't show hatred, but the hurt in them saddened him.
"I think you already found out" the young Winchester muttered shamefully.
"How can you be a wizard?" Bobby asked. Some curiosity lingered in the older man's voice that helped to ease Sam's mind.
"I was 11, when the letter arrived" Sam began his tale. "I showed it to Dad because I was confused. He just sat there in shock as he read the letter, but he was extremely happy. When he took us on a hunt in Salem, we arranged everything. That school offered correspondence course, which was cheaper and we could travel anywhere, because the owl always found me. And we always went back to Salem for my exams."
"So that's why we went back in the beginning of every summer?" Dean asked, voicing his deep hurt. "Why you disappeared for that two or three weeks?" Sam nodded guiltily. Jade slid down the young man's lap, backing out of the front line. "And why was it not so important to tell about it to your own brother, who raised you since you were a baby?" Dean shouted losing his temper.
"I don't know…" Sam breathed brokenly.
"Well, this is great" Dean swung his hands up angrily, letting them land with a soft smack on his jeans. "Absolutely, fucking wonderful." Suddenly he started towards the entrance door, snatching up his jacket.
"Dean…" Sam jumped to his feet to try to explain to his brother.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" the man screamed outraged and stormed out of the house. Sam and Bobby were waiting for the engine of the Impala to start up, indicating that Dean wants to vent his anger with a drive around the town, but it didn't happen. Sam walked brokenly up to his room and not too long after that Jade crept after him.
Sam was curled up in his bed, his back to the door, and he was soundlessly crying, judging by his shaking shoulders. Jade carefully eased himself onto the bed behind the young man, slid his arm around Sam's torso and rested his cheek onto the chestnut-brown locks. For a while they were just lying there together without any sound and movement.
"I-I did-dn't wan-wanted to…" Sam murmured between gasps.
"I know" Jade hushed him, stroking his hand through the brown tresses.
"He's h-hatin-ng me…" Sam continued exasperatedly.
"No, he's not" Jade protested softly. "Don't even think about that!"
Out of the blue the shattering of glass broke through the open window. Sam instantly pressed his hands onto his ears and began sobbing harshly. The next sound signed metal hitting metal and it was repeated in a slightly steady rhythm. Jade, too, pressed his hands on Sam's to help locking out the enraged echoes, but the young man jumped at every hit the same way. Jade knew, though, that Sam's hearing the hits only in his memories: he recognized the young man's reaction from his own in his past.
Soon the beating stopped and Sam was finally sleeping, although he was very close to the surface: tears still leaked out from under the closed lids and he still cringed now and then from the hits he heard in his mind. Jade carefully got off the bed and sneaked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He tiptoed down the stairs and found the other Winchester sitting on the couch. The man rested his jaw on his threaded fingers, his grass-green eyes gazed into the far distance. Jade took a seat next to the man, just catching the very first teardrop since the whole argument.
"I saved him from a burning building, when he was six months old" Dean spoke softly, but instead of anger in his voice there was only defeat. "I pulled him out of every trouble and danger he got himself into. I put up with his mood swings and rebellion, not just in his teenage years, but when he became an adult, too. I gave him food, raised him, bathed him, dressed him, helped him with his homework, took up the role of a mother instead of Mom and the role of a father instead of Dad… I sacrificed my entire childhood for him and never even regretted it…"
"You had to grow up too early" Jade commented as he stroked the man's back. "I know what it's like."
"I sold my soul and went to Hell for him" Dean complained further. "I bore forty years of torture for him without breaking."
"How did you get out?" Jade asked quietly.
"The angels pulled me out of there to avoid the Apocalypse" Dean shrugged. "I did all of this for him" he broke down and looked at the teen next to him, letting free another teardrop, "and he shows his gratitude like this? That he hides the most important years of his life from me?"
"I'm sure he had a good reason…" Jade started but Dean just snorted dejectedly. The teen felt sorry for the man, so he pulled him closer, letting the man bury his face into his shoulder.
"This is what my care's worth for him" Dean cried. Jade have never thought that a person's heart can break so much like his was breaking right now. No one deserves that exhaustion, mental, physical and emotional, that tortured the older Winchester. "How could I know he's grateful if he does things like this to me? Betrays me this way?"
"He's indeed grateful to you" Jade hushed the man, trying to hold back his own tears. "Because he loves you. I can see it in his eyes. You're the only one who really counts as a family to him."
"Not now" Dean commented sadly. "You are one, too…"
"I'm not even close to you" Jade interrupted him. "And that love won't change or vanish. I can only be second with Bobby" Jade lifted his gaze on the old man, who listened to the conversation from the kitchen doorway, watching over them from behind the wall. Bobby nodded once then disappeared into the other room. "Why don't you get some rest? And later you can talk about this with Sam."
Before Dean could've protested, Jade gently pushed him down onto the couch and tucked him in with the covering on the back of the furniture. As he caressed the man's cheek, Dean let out a sigh:
"I missed this so much."
Jade smiled at him then tenderly pressed a kiss on the man's forehead, who let a last teardrop fall because of the boy's mothering nature and the freshly reopened grief. Finally he fell asleep.
"If I didn't know you" spoke up Bobby softly, when the boy joined him in the kitchen, "I would think you are some kind of an angel, who arrived at last to make peace between those two."
"Although the term 'angel' does not fit me" Jade smiled, "an angel doesn't always come to us with soft feathered wings and a halo above their head."
"That's true" Bobby nodded. "But sometimes the raw experience brings the long expected serenity that the angelic nature can bring to us."
"I'm not an angel" Jade murmured with a blush.
"Believe it or not" Bobby stood up, "you're a real guardian angel, but you're not the only one."
"What do you mean?" Jade asked raising an eyebrow.
"Sam for a while believed that his destiny is damnation" Bobby replied. "But only because he ignored his own guardian angel, who was perching on his shoulder throughout his whole life. That angel was using the raw experiences, too, but now he could only press forward with an emptying tank. However, you came and helped him back from destruction. And I'll be eternally grateful to you for that."
Jade thought about the man's words, not seeing Bobby leaving him alone. Suddenly he stood up: he felt he realized who that 'other angel' was, according to the older man. He carefully walked to the doorway and looked at him silently; he could almost make out the broken wings and the ruffled feathers on the weary body. The boy recognized that he had arrived at the last moment to save the angel. He's going to do everything to get back the faith in his charge for Dean Winchester.
TBC
How did you like it? I'm really sorry. I think this is the chapter from where the AUness REALLY comes alive with some very loose links to the series. If you had enough of it and don't want to read it further, I completely understand and thank you for staying with me until this point.
If you agree with my metaphorical opinion of Dean being an angel, send a Review! :) And if the ending starts a conversation about religion and angels: I'm not religious, but all the religions and their followers have my complete and honest respect, even if there are some things I don't agree with. The little discussion about angels is just my opinion and I don't mean to hurt others' feelings with it. You don't have to agree with me, I'm just sharing my viewpoint about this topic.
Okay, I hope everything was covered! I don't like hurting people's feelings. So, see you soon, hopefully!