Author's Note:
Just because I forgot to say it last time, thank you all for reading this and I hope to see more reviews on what you think. I wanted to mention that this story has been running for a year now, I first uploaded it on February 5th of last year. So happy anniversary Chronicles, my longest fic ever
Jar of Hearts World: Part 7
Sam eyes shifted when he felt the waking world greeting him, it was warm and heavy. He lifted his head slightly to see Jet sleeping on him, one arm wrapped under Sam's torso while the other rested on his chest. Jet's face was buried in the crook of Sam's neck and he thought that maybe waking up next to his boyfriend was his favourite part about the morning after. Jet was always so tough when they were out, facing crazy monsters and all of that, but he was such a sweetheart when it came to cuddling. Sam never imagined that Jet would ever need him like that, to hold him when he slept but there they were, cradled together. He kissed the top of his boyfriend's head and sighed lightly, letting the morning slip by a little.
In the room over Castiel was experiencing a very similar situation, he'd gone to sleep with Dean curled into him like it was the end of the world around them and that maybe he wouldn't wake up again. Cas' fingers repeated traced through Dean's hair and over his scalp, a soothing and calming motion as he let the drowsiness of sleep drift away from him. Dean breathed so softly, his face peaceful, and his hands grasping gently for Castiel every time they slipped away. Cas smiled at the neediness he was seeing, to feel like Dean trusted him enough to drop a persona of manly tendencies was surprisingly comforting.
When everyone dragged themselves out of bed it was about the same time of morning. Castiel smirked at the drowsy bedhead parallels that Dean and Jet were as they strolled down to the kitchen. They smirked at one another and bumped fists before Dean continued on into the kitchen, his intent clear enough. Sam and Cas shared a glance, each wore the same expression of warmth, it was peaceful. They'd all slept well and no one said anything about any of the night's activities, not even Dean who had been so bitter about the shower in the first place. He did eventually get one, though it was taken with Cas right before bed.
Sam and Castiel sat together at the table while Jet yawned and went to make coffee. He ran his hand through his hair to move it slightly out of his way with little success. He blew at it, that look of 'I need a haircut' dawning on his face before he looked over at Dean with a smirk, "I like how none of us care that we don't actually live here."
"Meh, it's like a 'help yourself bed and breakfast.'" Dean grinned back at him and they looked back down at what they were doing respectively. "Everybody cool with eggs and bacon?"
"Not a big fan of bacon, actually." Castiel shrugged and realized his folly as soon as he noticed the expressions on everyone's faces. "Uh… did I do something wrong?"
"Yes." Jet informed him adamantly and Sam's mouth cracked into a grin.
"That's fine, Cas." Dean raised an eyebrow as if he'd just stabbed him in the back or something, "What would you prefer?"
"Well bacon's fine, I just prefer it softer if that's alright?" Cas added sheepishly.
A huffed laugh rocked Dean's chest slightly as he fished the food out of their host's fridge. "It's okay if you don't like bacon."
"It's fine, I just don't like it crispy."
"Picky eater over here." Jet sneered, playfully poking Cas' shoulder until his hand was swatted away. "Alright, alright." He snickered and withdrew his limb.
Their morning was quiet, Castiel almost wanted to cry at how domestic it all felt, almost. Breakfast had tasted amazing but it came down to the same thing it always did; they had to get moving. As they packed up Sam left a letter for the hosts of the household, he knew that within the hour that entire world would forget they'd ever been there and that none of it would quite line up with a note left behind. But he did it anyway, and addressed it to Michael.
Dear Michael,
You won't remember the conversation you held with a stranger in a dark labyrinth beneath the city but that stranger wanted you to remember at least one thing; don't be afraid of waiting but looking for that special someone is more likely to end in finding them. You are capable of the same love you've seen around you, that way your brothers light up isn't just a 'them' thing, you can have it too. Don't rush but don't waste your time, I want you to be happy too.
Good luck.
Sam got out of the chair as soon as he was done, stretched and winced slightly at the subtle throb in his backside, "Jet you were a bit rough," he whispered as he elbowed his boyfriend lightheartedly.
Jet smirked and gave his ass a quick squeeze before kissing Sam's cheek, "Remember what you did to me? I think I was pretty damn nice."
"Let's go, guys." Castiel smiled at them and motioned to where Dean was the first to step into a ready made portal. He ushered them through before it closed behind him as he entered last.
The Rift
A familiar emptiness met them as soon as they passed to the other side of the portal, Dean scratched the side of his head in annoyance as they piled up behind him. "We're in another rift, guys."
Cas frowned and looked around again, it was certainly the same kind of neutral zone he remembered from previous encounters, that same no-gravity feeling and slight nausea that came with it. "For fuck's sake! How many of these can we run into in such a short amount of time!?"
"Maybe it's doing laps?" Sam offered with a half-hearted smile.
"More likely that it's trying to avoid something…" Castiel ran his hand up through his hair and looked at Dean who only shrugged, "We'll figure it out later, I suppose. There's got to be something between the worlds that's causing the rift to circulate in such a small space."
"Welcome." The rift spoke up in the same manner it had last time, the voice was like silk and so calm that they didn't really feel tension anymore. "Dean Marion Winchester please point out who in this space you would soonest die for."
Dean's hand immediately shot toward Sam, "Sam."
"Reason?"
He was a little surprised, the last time this thing had been fairly trivial but now it was asking deeper questions? Maybe it was in a bad mood or something, regardless he knew the drill, don't lie to a sentient world. "Because he's my little brother, I've been looking out for him as long as I can remember and I know that he'd be the first one I'd reach out to."
"This is for all of you, pass this hypothetical situation."
"What?" Dean barely managed to question it before the three around him were suddenly thrust away from him, each bound and thrown into a different situation. Dean saw each one like it was slow motion and maybe it was, but he could see and hear each one of them clear as a bell. Castiel's throat was clasped by another him, the other him, Castiel's late husband. It was a scene from his nightmares and Cas' gargled and crushed whimper broke Dean's heart. Sam was slowly back away from Jet, or at least a vision of him, that same black smoke oozing from the fake's orifices and a twisted grin on its face as it approached his brother. And lastly Jet stood completely still as he stared into the face of his father, Dean didn't need to know more about that scenario to know exactly what was going on there.
He bolted forward, he could be fast enough to save all three but he came in contact with a wall, it wouldn't let him through. "What is this!?" He pounded his fist on the barrier and looked up to see Castiel's body going limp, Sam's back against a wall, and Jet still hadn't budged an inch.
"Your job is to watch. Let them do it on their own."
Dean's heart stuttered in his chest as it felt too tight to breathe, Cas' face was already wet from crying, the pain shaking him to his core. Dean hit the glass again, "CASTIEL! He's not real! HE'S NOT REAL!"
Cas choked out a sound and glanced back toward Dean, blue eyes wide and horrified as he acknowledged Dean's presence.
"That's not him, Cas! You know that, you beat your past, you're stronger than this! You're stronger!" Dean heard the panic in his voice as tears burned at his eyes. "Kick his ass, baby!"
Castiel's jaw trembled but it stiffened as he clenched it and turned his attention back to the monster in his lover's skin. "You're dead," he said evenly and placed his hand on the creature's face. The light flashed between them and the nightmare vanished in an explosion of smoke and a dissipating mist, Castiel landed on his feet and coughed heavily, his breaths coming in shakily. He was okay.
Dean looked to Sam again, his little brother shaking his head as this strange, twisted version of Jet leaned over him. "You're not real," Sam repeated as his voice shook, "You're a part of a future that isn't going to happen."
"I'm inevitable, Sam."
He pulled away when Jet reached for his face, Sam moved along the imagined wall until he could get around the spectre, "What are you?"
"I'm the one that's going to kill everything you love, I'm the one that's going to take your sweet little boyfriend away from you." It laughed, that same bitter sound they'd heard in Futurum.
"SAM!" Dean hit the barrier harder and watched it crack, a bit startled he realized; he could break through. He hit it again and it broke further.
"Dean! Stop it!" Cas shouted at him, "I heard the Rift, you need to stop meddling!"
Dean snarled and hit it again, "My little brother's in trouble, Cas! I'm not gonna just stand here."
The false Jet caught Sam again and held him down, slowly leaning closer with a malicious smile. "I'm going to eat you alive."
Sam stared up in horror at the way it managed to completely stretch and dislocate its jaw. But it didn't get much closer than slightly drooling on him, Sam watched as the thing was punched right off of him and hurdled into the wall behind him. He looked up at Dean who quickly pulled him back to his feet.
"You okay, Sammy?" Dean fretted as he checked him over.
"I'm… I'm alright, Dean." Sam wrapped his arms around his big brother and inhaled just as shakily as Cas had, "I just wasn't quite prepared for that."
Castiel walked over there through the gaping hole Dean had made, "We've got one more to bust out, guys."
Dean looked over to where Jet's quarantined area was located and felt his stomach twist at the sight of his best friend on his knees, his head tilted down as a nightmare rendered him completely frozen. The representation of his father held his head in place, a fist in his hair as he beat him with the other hand where a broken bottle waited to cut skin. Dean ran across to where another wall stopped him.
"Jet! Jet don't let him do this to you, come on man!" He didn't know what to say, he'd never solved this problem, he'd never actually helped Jet through it.
Jet shifted a little at the sound of Dean's voice, he couldn't have turned his head to look but it was clear he wanted to.
"You beat him once, didn't you?" Castiel hadn't ever seen Jet's past, had never asked about it but it was clear as day what he saw now. "You're here with all of us, you've already beaten him, what you're feeling now doesn't even hurt."
Dean looked at Cas' neck and saw no marks or anything from where his windpipe was nearly crushed. While it could have been summed up by 'he heals fast,' it had been too soon for that to heal.
Jet was quiet for a few seconds until his hand shot up and caught his father's wrist, twisting it until it brought the spectre its knees in front of him. They were face to face and Jet just grinned at the man, "You were wrong." He whispered before reaching up and very coldly snapping the man's neck.
The walls disappeared and they hurried to Jet's side as he started to pull himself up, his hand went up into his hair and he touched his face as Sam nearly knocked him over with a hug. "I'm not bleeding?" He asked after wrapping his arms around Sam without a second thought of what to do with himself.
"No, I told you the wounds aren't real." Cas smiled and shook his head, "The Rift said 'hypothetical' didn't it?"
"Felt real." Jet dropped his head against Sam's shoulder and exhaled heavily, "Thanks guys."
"You did it on your own," Dean grinned and motioned to the floor where Jet had been kneeling, "Didn't know you could break necks like that."
"Yes you did." Jet raised an eyebrow at him, that little smirk on his face that said more than his tone.
Before they could continue the rift spoke again, interrupting their moment. "Dean you have intervened with Sam."
"The question that you asked me was if I would put my life on the line and who I'd do it for first, my answer was Sam. Are you really surprised? Wasn't that my test? To see if I'd really do it?" Dean argued and the rift was silent for a moment before it stated;
"You're smarter than you look."
"Thanks," Dean snorted indignantly, "I… I think."
Before anyone could even laugh at him the rift fell away from them all just like it had done the first time and they found themselves sitting on the mainline once again.
The Mainline
"That was entirely unpleasant," Jet remarked as he pulled himself to his feet, "I liked it better the first time when I got to dance and kiss Sam."
"You lucked out." Cas smirked at him and looked over to where Sam and Dean were sitting a little further down the road. "You two okay?" He called and they both stuck out their hands, thumbs up on each.
"We're good." Dean shouted back and pulled himself to his feet, Sam right behind him.
"Let's keep going," Cas walked past them and toward another world, fires blazing along its path. "Lots of work to do."
The other three fell in line behind him.