Knock knock.
The two cousins were wearing the biggest and fakest smiles as the door to the Men of Letters HQ was opened, even though it hurt James' split lip a little. "Ahh, save it, you dumbfucks." Fenris was the one who answered the door, and he chuckled just a little, crossed his arms and leaned on the doorpost. "You two are in for it now. These boys are out for blood."
"You're so annoying." Henry pretended to be mad as he shoved Fenris out of the way, but erupted into laughter as he shoved back and twisted him into a headlock.
"I wouldn't be laughing so soon if I were you." Dean grumbled, and Henry and Fenris immediately straightened up and Henry scrubbed his hair back in place. Dean was sitting at the table that was first seen from the entrance, his largest shotgun on his lap as he'd been cleaning it, but it was only there for intimidation. Henry started to chuckle again-he'd done this exact same thing when Henry brought his first girlfriend over for dinner.
Sam was sitting next to him, and he stood up right away when he saw Henry. "Are you okay? It's not a good idea to go on a case after..everything that happened to you.." Henry rolled his eyes as Sam came up and began to examine him all over with a troubled look on his face.
"Pops, I'm fine." Henry huffed.
"What's this, then?" Sam asked, pointing to the bit of black that was still spattered to his jacket.
"I don't really know what it's called yet. It's like a demon soul." Henry tried to explain.
"And how did it get on you? It always burns up whenever we kill them." Sam squinted and tried to figure it out.
"I, um, kind of ripped it out." Henry looked a little uncomfortable all the sudden. "Look, how we did it doesn't really matter. What matters is one's down and we have one to go."
"I don't like that you left without telling us anything." Dean complained, finally setting the gun down, and he stood up and crossed his arms. "James, what happened to your lip?"
James touched the tender skin and shrugged. "Meh."
Dean rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile a little. "Okay, no more work for at least a few days. You're giving me grey hairs already. We should focus on this timeline instead." Of course Sam had told him what Gabriel had explained to him.
The five of them all went to sit in the projector room, as James tried to explain what he'd been theorizing for the longest time.
"Look. Apparently, you can't change the big stuff, right? Just like how you couldn't change the fact that Uncle Sammy got the demon blood in him from the demon deal. But you did change the fact that Grandpa John chose the Impala instead of another car, right?" James pointed to diagrams of hundreds of lines, of all different slopes and colors.
"Look, that one small change caused the slighest of a change in the timeline, and that tiny angle, even if it was .00001 percent of a degree, could multiply exponentially as the line progresses to actually skew the main timeline off course over time. If that one change can alter the fixed timeline just a little..."
James looked out to a very confused-looking Dean and Henry. "I literally cannot believe you're my son." Dean laughed, but he looked like he admired what he was trying to explain.
James looked just a little peeved as he pointed to the board again. "We have twenty-five years to change this timeline, the tricky part is finding out what. We need to rotate the axis just enough to make sure that a particular event doesn't happen. But we can't risk under or overrotating. We have to find the exact theta and merely bump the fixed timeline off path onto a new one."
"Dude, you know I got a C in Calculus." Henry crossed his arms and puffed some long brown hair from his face. Dean shrugged in agreement.
"I understand, James." Cas piped up, and Dean snorted a little, bit hid his smile in his hand.
James pressed his lips together. "We have to find the root of what event can be changed now in order to change the future, to stop Lucifer from having a successor. We should trace it back."
Henry yawned and stretched. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm damn tired from today. I say we look at this again tomorrow when we've got our batteries all recharged, okay?" He stood up and began making his way back to his couch. "Night, Uncle D. Night, Uncle Cassie." He called out, before dissappearing around the corner.
Cas had been contemplating all day about the situation. It simply didn't make sense that Henry's soul would be that corrupt already, if even at all. He'd peered into his mind; sure, he wasn't so happy with not having Gabriel in his life, but there wasn't much else. He should have been perfectly clean.
Cas hoped Henry was a heavy sleeper. A few hours later he padded out quietly to where him and James slept, and he sat next to his nephew and observed him, looking into his soul to see that small blackened area again. Henry looked peaceful as his chest rose and fell as he slept, and Cas screwed up his face in trying to understand. Something wasn't adding up.
He placed his hand on his shoulder and closed his eyes, trying to feel his grace in detail. He sensed the parts with Sam's characteristic glow, as well as Gabriel's. Then there were a few parts that were completely mixed, it was like trying to pick out the specific yellow and blue from green. It was then that he saw it, or rather, felt it. His breath caught in his throat in disbelief as he realized what he was picking out, but he didn't understand how, or even why.
There, within the purely innocent grace that was swirling serenely, was a little patch of light that didn't match up to the two that he was supposed to consist of. It was like mixing that same yellow and blue and somehow getting green with a small patch of red, it just wasn't possible. But where did the foriegn light come from? And who did it belong to? Cas delved even deeper, pushing hard on his shoulder to get just a little closer to his soul. Henry frowned and stirred a little in his sleep, and Cas gasped as he realized what it really was. There, sitting foreign amongst the rest of him, was a tiny little shard of grace that the only match was Lucifer.
He jumped slightly as a small voice spoke up behind him, and he turned to face James.
"What's wrong with him?" James asked, running a hand through his hair groggily. Cas didn't want to say what he'd seen aloud.
"I don't know." Cas answered after a small pause.
"Don't lie to me, dad." James sat up on the couch and rubbed his face. "There's something you guys aren't telling me. And this changing time because of Lucifer's son, it's bullshit."
Cas straightened up and sat next to James on the couch. He hesitated but put his hand on his knee.
"I didn't understand until just now. There's a small part of him that's...not right." Cas hesitated before continuing. "We told you that you need to prevent Lucifer's son from rising, I suppose you are correct in saying it is 'bull shit'. James, Henry...is his successor."
"No, he's not." James shot out right away. "No. That's not possible."
"There is a small part of the devil's grace in him. I don't know how, or when, but I know it's there."
James covered his mouth with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut.
"He's been scary lately. And you've all been acting weird.." James looked scared as he reached out like a little kid, and Cas, somewhat confused, leaned slightly forward to have James bury his face in his clothes.
"What's going to happen to him?" He whispered, and Cas frowned.
"I'm sorry, James. I don't know."
"He's not a bad guy, dammit!" James gripped tightly to his clothes, and Cas awkwardly patted his back.
"..I believe you." Cas said quietly.
James' eyes glittered with unshed tears. "You said you don't know how it got there? Well, I don't care if he hates me. I'll ask him, and then we can fix this, right?"
Cas pressed his lips together. The piece had been extremely hard to detect, and it was already deeply infused into his own grace. There was no way to remove it without removing much of Henry himself.
"Maybe." Cas finally decided to answer. "Go to sleep, James." Cas hated seeing when his humans got puffy bags under tired eyes. He let Dean do the yelling at the two of them, but he was concerned that they'd been working so hard as well.
...
Henry woke up the next morning in a good mood. It was sunny and he'd actually slept in for once. And music was blaring from the old radio nearby, and he heard James humming and singing quietly along. James is okay. You were strong yesterday, and he didn't get hurt again. Whatever he says, what you did was great. He smiled and stretched a little.
"Get up, we're going out for breakfast." James was tying on his shoes and then began making his makeshift couch-bed. Henry snorted and rolled onto his stomach.
"You fucking goody-two-shoes, making the damn bed." He chuckled again, and James gave him a rough shove that had him thump to the ground, gripping to the sheets that did nothing to break his fall.
"Get dressed. Now." James straightened up and went out of the room without another word.
"It makes me all tingly when you take charge like that," Henry joked, and he was met with a snort from the other room.
The tall young man chuckled and rolled over again, but gripped his chest as a flinch of pain shot up his chest. It wasn't leftover growing pains from his recent additions, that was certain. He scowled to himself as he pulled on a clean tee shirt that had been neatly folded and set in front of the couch, and it was pungent with Sam's scent. Henry chuckled a little at how sweet his dad was being, even though he'd been a little reserved for the whole thing, a little nervous.
Henry stopped mid-tug and winced before quickly rolling the rest of the shirt down. He easily felt his blade drop into his hand and he stared at it, watching the silver flash as he twisted it in the buttery morning light. It had been getting worse lately.
How James had been able to pull the strings to let the two of them go out to breakfast alone was anyone's guess. Henry wasn't surprised that James' cute little puns and little disgustingly sweet face didn't get him Impala driving rights, nothing would be that convincing. They bumbled down the road in a beaten up spare car, and finally found a little diner where they picked up some breakfast food.
"Let's go drive it somewhere nice to eat." James insisted strangely as Henry just got his food. Henry rolled his eyes a little, but upon seeing his cousin's pleading expression he caved. "Fiinneee. I don't know why you're acting like a little bitch on a valentine's date or something though." James barely even smiled.
Henry knew something was up when James began to be more nervous, he averted his eyes when Henry looked at him, and his body language began to show that he was feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Henry pulled over and killed the engine on the way back home, sighing and rolling his head to stare at James. "Okay, what the hell is going on. I haven't felt this awkward since I made eye contact with that woman buying a cucumber and Fifty Shades."
James looked at him and quickly averted his eyes. "My dad told me something last night. Something..about you." He ran his hand through his black hair and hesitated to continue.
"What about me?" Henry felt a nervous rush of butterflies in his stomach. Shit. What if...?
"It was about all this stuff about Lucifer's son. You've got to know that was a lie." He mumbled, and suddenly looked very pale-faced, as the old clunker's door squealed as he stumbled out of the car.
Henry quickly did the same, rushing over to James' side of the car and holding him up by the shoulders as it looked like he was about to faint. "Jamie? What's wrong?"
"You're...you should know what I'm talking about! Cas told me last night that he found something, that you're the Lucifer's son!" James blurted, and felt a wall of guilt as it escaped his lips, and his hands flew to his mouth. "Shit. Shit, Henry, I-"
His cousin had quickly turned to face away from him, the long brown hair falling into his face masking his features from this angle. James didn't know what to even say to apologize as the silence stretched even farther. Finally, the tall man took a few steps, slowly rotating to face his cousin. His eyes were downcast, and his lips in a small frown.
"James-I know." He said quietly, his voice cracking just a little in the end. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he bit his lips together instead, tears shining in his eyes. James was speechless as he searched his face. Was this some kind of cruel joke? What did he mean he knew?!
The stranger approached the very distraught four-year-old Henry, who had a pouty frown on his face and crusty tear trails down his cheeks. He was just watching as the man came closer, swinging his little legs on the chair much too high for him, and the man in a suit and tie approached him.
"Hello there, Henry." The suited man said in a sickeningly sweet voice, bumping up the steps and sitting next to the little kid. Henry looked up at him with a scowl. "Who are YOU?" Henry demanded in a rude little way, crossing his arms. He winced slightly again as he heard something crash from inside, and a piercing scream of pain, and a muffled voice rapidly firing off words, Dean's voice.
"I'm one of the angels. Your Uncle." The stranger said, using again that sugar-coated razorblades kind of voice again. "I understand that your other uncles are having a hard time. That your little cousin might never arrive."
Henry was told to leave, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what was going on inside, it had been going on for hours. Cas was dying, and his baby cousin was dying. He heard phrases he didn't understand, like "result from the Leviathans" and "difficulty with a scarred grace." He didn't like these words, they sounded scary, and the screaming and breaking of things wasn't making him feel any better.
Henry's eyebrows drew together and fresh tears sprung to his wide eyes. "Why do you say arrive? You mean he's dying." The little kid stated bluntly, a tear dripping down his face. "I heard Uncle D talking. He said he's gon die." More tears began to flow down his face as it began to turn redder and little whines began forcing up his throat. "I don't want him to die." He whined, hiding his head in his hands as his little shoulders shook.
Suddenly, his little chin was tipped up by the mysterious suited man. "What if I told you I could save him? That I could save him and your Uncle?"
"What the hell are you talking about, you know?" James demanded, feeling panic surge up in his chest. "What the fuck are you trying to say to me?"
Henry kept his eyes downcast and he sighed. "All I knew is that there was a way. No, dammit, it was the only way." James had tears shining in his eyes as he shoved his fist into Henry's clothes and twisted. "You tell me what's going on right now." He said through gritted teeth. "Now, dammit!"
"You want to save your little couzie? And your Uncle too?" Henry nodded desparately, wringing his tiny hands on his lap. The man smiled and patted his back. "You just have to do one, silly, easy little thing first." Henry looked like he was trying to weigh his options. "Would it hurt?" He asked timidly, and the man smiled and shook his head.
"Well, what bout how long I have to do it for?" The man in the suit and tie smiled again. "Nothing will happen to you for a long, long time. How old are you now?" Henry shyly held up four little fingers. "Well, imagine being one hundred. And then imagine being one hundred ten times. That's how long that nothing with happen."
Henry wasn't very good at math, but he knew that was a long time. A really long time. He closed his eyes and nodded. "Okay. Okay, Uncle."
"I did it for you, James." Henry spoke up vaguely. "Hell, I didn't know what the fuck I was getting myself into. I was four, for Gramp's sake." James began to connect the dots. When Henry was four was when he was born. And if deals were for miracles...and Cas had told him that his survival at birth was a miracle...
James instantly got a rush of goosebumps down his spine. "You didn't. Henry, you didn't." Henry was silent, and he nodded just slightly.
"Give your Uncle a little kiss, Henry. You love your little couzie, don't you?"
"It wasn't ten years or anything. I let him just give me the tiniest piece..in exchange for you and Cas, and...I didn't care for a long time. You were okay. We were okay. I finally had a cousin, a friend, a brother, and that felt like the best thing in the world."
He finally lifted his eyes and looked James dead in the eyes. "You don't think I know my own soul?" He laughed painfully, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "All my hatred, all my anger, any negative emotion goes straight to that part inside me. And I knew that it was growing, that I was turning. That this all started a few years ago."
James let go of his shirt and stumbled backwards, disbelief on his face. "Tell me this isn't true. Please. This isn't true."
"See, sweetheart? That wasn't so bad." Lucifer said sweetly as Henry looked down at his chest and patted it, the foreign patch of grace that had been grafted into his. "It feels funny." He said quietly, his voice almost getting drowned out by the sound of a wailing baby from inside.
"It won't feel like that for so long. You'll like it after a little while." Henry smiled a little and looked up into the man's false smile. "Thanks!" He said cheerfully, beaming and hopping off the chair and beaming up at the strange man. "I'm going to go meet my cousin now."
"When was I supposed to tell you? How?" Henry insisted as James gripped his hair tightly and was breathing heavily, refusing to believe what Henry was saying was true. He let himself be corrupted, he'd exchanged it for James' life...Henry went quiet for a little while, and James refused to speak up either.
"James, I don't regret what I did. I love you." Henry spoke up in a quiet voice. A clear, fat tear rolled down his face as he told him. And he was not one to say the L-word. James couldn't bring himself to speak as he choked out sobs. Henry continued.
"I knew that it wouldn't get bad before I had led a normal human life span. And if it did get bad...when it did get bad..." He thought about when he'd stared at his blade that morning when he'd felt the twinges again. He knew he would have the strength to do it.
"You were going to kill yourself? Is that it?" James spat out. "No. I'd rather die than let this play out, Henry." There was another silence and James dropped to his knees, curling into a small ball and sobbing with tiny hiccups. Henry dropped down next to him, extending his long legs and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. "It's okay. James, it's okay. I don't mind."
James looked up at him with tear-stained eyes. "We are here for a reason. That's what everyone has been telling me. So we are going to change this." He insisted, and Henry, in a rare gesture of vulnerability, dropped his head to James' shoulder, his cheek pressed and his eyes closed.
"I sure hope so." And as if on cue, the damn thing shot out a twinge once again.