Author's Note:
Thanks for the support you guys, you rock! This chapter is a short one with two scenes I wanted to write but couldn't drag them out to be a chapter on their own. I hope you like them!
They'd been in the waiting room for a while, both figured that the questioning was almost over. Sam paced around the room and Jet sat forward watching through the window as cars passed by. It felt weird to see the world continuing on as normal despite what had just happened, though then again that's what the world always did.
Jet sighed and leaned back against the unbelievably hard chair, his skin crawled just thinking about what kinds of people must have sat in the same spot. His stomach was still in knots, his mom hadn't reacted the way he'd expected her to. Hell, she didn't really react at all; he couldn't help but wonder if that was a good or a bad thing.
"Hey," Sam derailed his train of thought with a simple word, "you look a little out of it, everything okay?"
"No," Jet managed a smirk and Sam didn't say anything, he gently moved Jet to lean against him instead. Jet let it happen and let his weight fall on Sam for another few moments of silence. "She barely said anything." He muttered and felt Sam's slight adjustment in posture.
"Who? Desirae?"
"Mom."
Sam hummed softly and put an arm around Jet's shoulders, "I don't really blame her, it's a lot to take in."
"Yeah, which means she should say something, right?" Jet tilted his head to look up and Sam shrugged once they made eye contact.
"Maybe not," he stroked Jet's hair absently, "Maybe there's too much she wants to say; her son was nearly caught up in an abduction and human experiments but instead made it rich. There are human-animal hybrids running around and that same son of hers adopted one which means she's a grandma, a huge deal for some people. You're dating me, another big deal. And to top it all off-"
"I'm missing an arm," Jet finished for him, Sam nodded solemnly. "I guess, I just would've liked some feedback…" He closed his eyes and Sam nuzzled the top of his head affectionately. It was comforting, he was happy to be there but he still felt like he needed something more. "It happened to me, not her…"
"Maybe it's the location?"
"Stop trying to find a reason for it," Jet abruptly sat upright again, his first instinct was to cross his arms. He froze up after dropping one over his stomach, he realized that that was the best he'd be able to do as he stared down at it. Jet could feel his blood boiling in an instant and he nearly blacked out for the angry outburst that followed. It was like a blur, he screamed and shoved the magazines off the table next to him. Sam said something but Jet wasn't listening, he was on his feet and before he knew it he was throwing a chair into the empty lobby.
Jet crashed to the floor, his knees hit the tiles hard and sent a shock through his legs. He couldn't catch himself with both arms and crumpled on his left side, smacking his shoulder and short arm against the ground.
He clenched his jaw as tears burned his eyes, he wanted to scream again but it wouldn't come up right. Jet let out a frustrated sound and silently cursed to himself as the pain snapped up what was left of his arm.
"Jet!" Sam was at his side and helping him sit upright, Jet focused on curling toward his injury so he wound up leaning on Sam more. "Take it easy," Sam's tone was gentle, probably hoped to calm him.
Jet's jaw was still clenched, his facial muscles were tense and starting to shake a little, but his tears still fell. He covered his face with the one hand, "Fuck…" he mumbled more than once, rubbed his eyes and sniffled harshly. It didn't help. Nothing helped.
"It's okay," Sam was holding him but he barely registered it, he couldn't focus on anything else. Sam was talking to someone but he didn't bother to look up and see, and his ears weren't tuned to listen.
He knew it'd be hard, he knew things would be weird and he already came to terms with that fact. He didn't want to freak out about how different it'd be, he knew it would be. He knew it and he still couldn't stop himself. His chest felt heavy and his head was going to explode. It was all he could do to try and breathe normally, shaky exhales followed by sharp and unhelpful inhales. A sob mixed in with the rest and he failed to stop the second or third. It was a losing battle against himself, he didn't stand a chance.
"I don't want to," he protested out loud, Sam's arms tightened around him.
"It's okay if you need to," Sam tried to tell him but he shook his head.
"No!" He pressed his palm against one of his eyes, "I won't break, I won't."
"This isn't breaking," Nikki's voice hit him hard and he had to look up, she was kneeling next to them with a patient smile. "You're not breaking, baby." She said more softly and reached over to pull him to her instead, Sam very happily obliged. Jet dropped his head against her shoulder as soon as he was able and didn't lift it as she hugged him close.
It wasn't for a few moments before someone spoke again, Nikki lessened her grip and leaned back to try and see Jet's face. "I know it's hard," she tipped his head so he'd look at her more directly. "I wish I could make it better, I really do. I want to handle the pig that did this to you myself, but he's already gone. I would give you my arm if I could," she cupped his cheek and just looked at him. He hadn't seen her do that since he was small and the last time they were in a police station together.
"I wouldn't ask you to," he managed to say levelly though still quiet.
"Of course not, but I would do it." Nikki laughed softly and kissed his forehead, "Since that's not possible, I'll be here to help you get used to this."
Jet smiled a little and nodded, he knew it was selfish to ask her to do that for him. To get her to uproot herself for a while just to help him was a dick move, but he needed her around. She was one of the decent moms of the world, she would give him everything she thought he needed even at her own risk. If that sometimes included harsh punishments then so be it. Jet was willing to accept his mom's help, it would involve some tough love along the way but he welcomed it.
"Thanks mom," he tried to say it more strongly but it still came out timid. "Sorry I freaked out."
"It's alright," she ruffled his hair, "In other news, Desirae's the cutest kid I've seen since you were a baby."
"I was cute after baby-hood." Jet muttered as he fixed his hair.
"You were a brat, it negates your cuteness." Nikki mussed up his hair again as soon as he was done.
"Whatever," he smirked as convincingly as he could and looked over at Sam who was holding Desirae, "Sorry about that."
Sam walked over and sat down with him on the floor, Jet was caught up in a crushing hug and did nothing to fight against it. "We love you, you idiot." Sam mumbled against him, Jet held on tighter. Rae wriggled in but didn't say anything, Jet kissed the top of her head and rested his against Sam.
"I love you guys too."
Everyone had moved to the hotel if they didn't already have somewhere to stay, and even then Michael still showed up to see Cas and check on any updates. Cas was happy for that, he called it 'brother time' and went to spend time with just him and Michael.
"It's been a day since we gave our story," Michael kicked a rock halfway across the parking lot, "Have they contacted you yet?"
"No, but they did tell us that it'd be a bit," Cas tried to kick a rock further and watched it hit the far wall that boxed in the lot, it remained lodged there. "It's not a small story, it'll take time to get the proper paperwork together before they can send in a team to check out what MacLeod did. And even then, I'm not sure they'd tell us they were doing it."
"The mansion's gonna be a crime scene now, huh?"
"I'm not sure, but maybe. They asked us not to stay there while all of this was going on anyway." Cas sat on the curb and watched his brother attempt the same thing he'd done. "They'll call."
"I know they will, but I want to be here when we hit the next step." Michael gave up and sat down with him, "You always take off and do things on your own."
Cas smiled and looked at his brother's grumpy demeanour, "Sorry Mike, I know I used to try and dump everything on you."
"No, you always tried not to and made a huge mess." Michael laughed and shook his head, "I guess nothing's changed."
"Maybe not," Cas looked at the wall and how he'd cracked it with another stone. All the fissures started at the same spot but broke off wildly in their own directions, it didn't matter they were all caused by the same thing. He stared at it quietly for a while, Michael didn't force conversation on him so they remained that way for a minute or two. "I could be anything," he whispered then.
"You always could."
"Yeah, but I mean…" Cas flexed his wings and glanced back at them, "after everything that's happened. I could still be anything I wanted from before."
Michael watched him and let him think but a smile crept over the older Novak's face. Mike elbowed him lightly, "So then what're you gonna be?"
"I want to sing," Cas decided and looked up at the clouds, "We'll get through this whole being new to the world thing, and once everyone's calmed the fuck down I'll go after that."
"Sounds like you've got it all figured out," Michael mocked and Cas slapped his arm playfully.
"Shut up," he laughed, "I know what I wanna do and that's good enough for now."
"Yeah, we still have to get past some shit before we can just move on from this." Mike sighed and leaned back on his hands, "Do you think they'll tell us everything they figure out?"
"Probably not, but that's alright by me. I don't think I want to know the details of it."
"Yeah, I can understand that."
Cas mimicked his brother's posture, "You ever think about going to see mom and dad?"
"No." Michael's expression didn't change but his tone got a bit darker. "You shouldn't either, Cas."
"Can't I make that choice?"
"Of course, but I don't think you should go, that's all." Michael sighed and looked at Cas with an understanding smile, "I know you want to see them, and you can do that if you think you should or if you need to. But just remember that some people would want to use you, and they might be part of that."
Cas couldn't deny that part, he knew they weren't the best parents in the world but they were still his. He wanted them to be like Jet's mom, or like Bobby; adults he could rely on for support. Of course he had his friends, Bobby included, that he could lean on, but it wasn't quite the same to him. "I need to at least close that chapter on my own." He said flatly and Mike nodded.
"Take someone with you, at least."
"I'll take Dee."