Eat Your Vegetables: Part 8

Downstairs in the lobby for the continental breakfast, Dean and Cas had already settled with their little muffins and other things, sipping at coffee like they hadn't tasted it in far too long. Dean glanced up when he heard Sam and Jet coming, he hadn't been paying attention the other night, how had their night gone? He wanted to know and judging by the way Jet was walking, it was good. Dean nearly spat his coffee across the room, Jet was the one with a slight limp. Jet was the one who took it, Dean couldn't quite swallow that. His best friend, the toughest son of a bitch he knew, bent over for his little brother? For Sammy? Dean watched Sam as they approached, that smile nearly lighting up the room.

"Morning guys," Dean smiled, eyeing Jet with a sort of 'I'm going to bug you so bad for this' look. But instead of getting the 'shut up Dean' he'd expected, he saw just how happy Jet looked. Just a simple little smile and a glint in his eye. It was like the one Dean saw in Cas', or his own in the mirror.

"Hey Dean." Sam dropped into a chair, very different than the way Jet eased himself down.

Jet poked Sam roughly, "Food, get it." He demanded and Sam rolled his eyes, getting up again.

"Be right back I guess."

"I'll come with," Cas stood up, "I want another one of those fruit tart thingies." He trotted along at Sam's side, leaving Dean and Jet to sit and vegetate for a bit.

Dean immediately looked at Jet with his eyes widened, "Did you really-"

"Yeah." Jet didn't hesitate, blush or shy away from it. He grinned and raised an eyebrow at his long-standing friend. "Didn't you?"

Dean couldn't help the blush as he remembered it, "Yeah, I got him last night and we switched it this morning." He scratched the back of his head, he supposed he really couldn't poke much fun at Jet for it. "We're a couple of idiots in love, aren't we?"

"I wouldn't call us idiots," Jet looked over at Sam and Cas with that charming smile he wore sometimes, "We picked some amazing partners."

Dean turned his head to look at them, Cas glancing around as if he would be caught or in trouble for taking more than one more fruit tart. It was so cute, glancing left and right really quick and snatching at least two more. "No kidding… So what do we do now?" He looked back at his friend quizzically. "We're so busy with life threatening crap, and, you know, it's life threatening. I think I'll lose my mind if Cas gets hurt."

"You've been crushing on him since you met him and you're still pretty sane after all the things we've already done, I think you're good, dude." Jet reached over and stole his coffee for a sip before putting it back, "And in terms of what to do about the actual relationship, we'll either have to make time for a date every now and then or just hurry through this mess. I don't think 'hurrying' will be much of an option but things are looking up. We've got that Futurum place to get to, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Right, so we'll get some info there, figure out where to go next and find a way to get you and Cas to the heart of this problem. There's gotta be something causing the whole thing, we'll take it down and presto, happy ending for all of us." Jet smiled up at Sam as he settled down again, food placed in front of him. "Thanks." He leaned over and left a kiss on Sam's cheek.

"You're welcome," Sam cupped the back of Jet's head and didn't quite let him break away, not without a stronger return.

Castiel placed a tart in front of Dean and scooted his chair forward, "So you're discussing what we're doing next already?"

"Just the ending," Dean shrugged, lighting brushing his fingers over the stubble on his boyfriend's face.

"It's impossible to tell how this will all end, I think we need to keep our hopes realistic." Cas replied more seriously, "Assuming it'll be as easy as finding the start of the problem and taking it out is wishful thinking."

"Not trying to think that hard on it, Cas." Jet raised an eyebrow at him, his lips pressed together in slight irritation. "Just a conversation. The main issue we had was what to do with our boyfriends, since regular date time doesn't look like an option."

Sam laughed and ran his hands through Jet's hair a few times, he liked doing that. "I don't care what we do together, as long as you're with me."

Their breakfast went without a hitch, other than the slight hiss Jet attempted to stifle each time he had to get up or move awkwardly. They planned to leave immediately, as soon as the food was finished. Jet curled his lips into his mouth and pressed them together a few times as the others discussed it and without another word created the portal to the mainline. He walked over like they did, not a word spoken but he turned his head back toward the world before he stepped through, he wouldn't really get a chance to say goodbye to Vincent. It was probably for the best though, the kid didn't know the difference between him and his real dad, seeing two of his dad might freak him out.

A priest always had to enter the portal last, it closed behind the second partner as it always had. Dean stood and watched the way Jet's gaze lingered and he couldn't just let it go, "What's up?"

"Nothing." Jet smiled and hopped through, he'd at least remember the kid.

Mainline

Stepping out of the world and onto the mainline was unnerving at best, Castiel could see Futurum, a world he'd previously been locked out of like all the others he was visiting. The fire flickered and reflected what it saw and saw it, it was beautiful but also entirely terrifying. "You guys ready to find out what Michael and Gabriel were talking about?"

"As ready as we'll ever be." Dean answered for the others but Sam wasn't so sure.

After all the thing they'd heard, that little bit that tipped them off to look into Sam and Jet in the first place was the sound of Sam screaming for Dean to help Jet. What in their future was going to lead to that kind of thing? His heart started to constrict just thinking about it, his boyfriend might be out of his hands in no time. "I'm… are we sure we want to…" He fumbled over his words, he knew they were stupid, he knew it but what else could he do?

Jet took his hand and started walking down the pathway to Futurum, his grip comforting and so simple. "Let's get a move on, kids." He called over his shoulder, "Sam and I can't open this thing."

Cas raised an eyebrow at them but didn't address it, it was clear why Sam was so nervous. "You better not fall into anything, I don't know what this world's going to be like."

"Hey!" A familiar voice called and they all turned their heads, not used to hearing voices at all on the mainline. It was Michael and Gabriel again. How many times would they run into each other, for pete's sake? Dean gave a short wave back and glanced at his companions, none of them had an answer either.

"You guys done in that other world already?" Dean asked as Michael approached.

"We've taken care of at least two now, you haven't reached Futurum yet?" He looked at them curiously, a slightly condescending smirk starting to tug at his lips.

Dean shook his head, "We got caught in a rift, spat out somewhere else, fought a gigas, you know."

Michael stared at him in disbelief, eyes slowly blinking as he registered the information, "A gigas? You took down a gigas?"

"Yeah…" Cas trailed off and strolled a little closer to lean around and see Michael's face a little better, "Why? You two haven't?"

"No, gigas are… well you saw it. They're nearly impossible to kill, luckily they're rare though. It's been a long time since I last saw one…" He touched his hand to his chin thoughtfully for a moment before looking over at Gabriel, his mouth opened slightly as if he were about to speak but he stopped mid motion. Gabe was in the midst of winking at Sam again, though this time there was a much different reaction from the younger Winchester.

"Sorry short stack, I'm taken." He lifted his hand, still clasped tightly around Jet's.

Gabriel's pout pulled into a smile almost immediately. "Aw, you sure-"

"He's sure." Jet snapped as he pulled Sam into him and away from the strange priest. "Do you two have anything better to do than bother us? What do you want?"

"Cool it Jet," Dean smirked and turned back to Michael, "He's right though, did you guys need something?"

"Yes actually, I wanted to give you this." Michael opened his palm, a white gold necklace in his hand. There were two gems studded in the highest parts of the heart shape dangling from the chain, a garnet and an emerald. Dean recognized the necklace, it was something his dad had made specially for his mom on mother's day. She was always wearing it, even the day she'd disappeared. "Is… Where did you get this?" Dean took it, his fingers tracing around it mesmerizingly.

"We found it, the second world we went to in the last little while was Aeterna, further back in the timeline. I wanted to know if there were any clues there, like why the Void wouldn't have attacked it, et cetera et cetera. Many questions later not a lot of answers, except I do know something about your parents." Michael explained matter-of-factly, not knowing the weight of his words.

Dean growled and looked away, "There's nothing you could know, they died and that's it."

"They went missing, Dean." Sam corrected softly but it still earned him an angry stare from his brother.

"We know that they didn't die," Gabriel joined in a little more seriously than he'd been. "They were taken out of the world, they're still alive somewhere."

"What?" Dean and Sam said in unison, their eyes widening as the words really sunk in. "Where?"

"We don't know," Michael turned his head away, glancing to Castiel then back at Dean, "We were hoping you'd gotten to Futurum to see something."

"Well it's not a bad thing we caught them first," Gabe shrugged and pat Sam on the shoulder, there was an animal snarl in Jet's throat but he ignored it. "In Futurum the things you see can be very influenced by what you're thinking about or how you feel, that's why Mike and I heard a bit from your group – we've been searching all over the galaxy for you. Point in case, keep thinking about your parents, you might see something."

Dean gripped the necklace a little tighter and nodded. He went to Sam and put it on him, "You hold onto this, I don't know where I'll end up."

"You don't know where I'll end up either," Sam furrowed his brow, looking down at their birthstones embedded into the white gold heart, it was comforting though, to have it there.

"I know I'll have to fight whatever comes, you don't."

"Thanks, Dean." Sam hugged him, closing his eyes and letting his head rest against his big brother. It was needed, hearing about their parents wasn't ever easy, even after ten years. "I… I don't know what to say, why would they be taken out of our world?"

Dean shook his head as they stepped away from each other, "Don't know, maybe to get to me?"

"Taken away is a question of 'what took them' and not 'why.'" Jet walked over and gave them both a squeeze on the shoulder. He'd known them since he could remember, Sam was an infant and Dean was a brat. He'd met their parents, he knew John and Mary almost as his own to some extent. "Knowing why won't help us find them, at least with a 'what' we have a starting point."

The brothers nodded together, each leaning forward and catching Jet in a group hug. The three of them had always been something of a family to begin with. Dean motioned for Cas to join, "You're part of this too, Cas. Come here."

Castiel smiled and obliged, he didn't know Dean's parents yet but the prospect of meeting them seemed that much more exciting. It would be a family reunion, a long awaited time for two boys who hadn't seen their parents in over ten years, and in that time they would introduce Castiel as part of the family He hadn't met his late husband's parents, they were already gone, he'd never had the chance to do that. Tears burned at the back of his eyes as he stepped away again, "Let's get in there, something's bound to come up." He looked to Michael and Gabriel again, "Thank you, you're very considerate to do this for us."

"You're our last hope, if we can help in any way we'll certainly do it." Michael smiled and leaned into a sweeping bow, one hand to his chest the other swung out for balance. "If you don't mind we'll take our leave, let me know how things have gone next time we meet."

"Will do." Dean smiled and gave a thumb's up as the other two priests took off again. "I kinda like those two, I hope we see more of them."

"I'm getting the feeling that we're on parts of the mainline that'll lead us to meeting more priests like them," Cas mused as he approached the world's entering point. "It'd be nice, really. I've always thought I was the only one."

Dean leaned around Castiel's side and kissed his cheek, "Well, you've been with us for a while now, not entirely alone."

Cas smiled and returned the kiss, holding it a little longer, "You're right."

"I don't like them." Jet folded his arms over his chest grumpily, glaring after the last place he'd seen the other two.

"Calm down Jet," Sam chuckled, linking arms with him despite his unhappy disposition. "So he hits on me, it's not like I'm jumping into bed with him."

"Better not, we'll have one less priest helping us out." Jet snickered, loosing his crossed arms to better hook up with Sam.

Cas opened the portal and stepped through, leading the way into what they hoped would be a few more answers than what they already had.