Desirae held Jet's hand each time she got the chance, wishing she could climb on his shoulders but knowing that was a bad move. Part of her knew she could speak up if things didn't go well at the meeting, but another part was sure it wouldn't matter if she did. It wasn't simple and it wasn't easy, she could understand that much.
It was frustrating sometimes, being part Castiel and the rest herself. She was half a clone of him and his mind was older than hers, it made for some intense clashing anytime she thought about it too long. It made her wonder how many of her thoughts were hers. Or what was influenced by Castiel's DNA? Did it matter?
She felt different from Cas, she was sure that she thought different from him too. But every once in a while they synced up, and it didn't bug her unless she tried to figure out details like she was doing at that moment. She told herself it didn't matter, she liked Cas and he was a great person. So what if she was similar to him? Jet loved her already and he hadn't known her before she was a petri dish of genetics and mutations. Hell, she didn't even know herself before all the experiments either.
So it didn't matter what she was mixed with or what she thought she ought to be. It didn't stop her from thinking about it, but at least she knew that much.
On the other hand, the people they were about to meet mattered in a different sense of the word. These people could legally say she belonged with them instead and the police would enforce that. Even if she was 80% Castiel they could still demand she live with them and it'd be legal.
Desirae held tighter to Jet's hand as they walked up the steps of the police station, her heart was in her throat. She didn't want to be away from Jet and Sam, she didn't want to be away from Cas who was the only person she could really talk about the experiments with. She wanted to stay with her family, the people that saved her life.
"Rae?" Sam interrupted her train of worries as he touched her arm gently, "You look pale, are you alright?"
"She's scared," Jet answered for her and she nodded in agreement.
"It'll be fine," Sam tried to be reassuring but she knew that he couldn't possibly have control over the situation. Of course he wanted her to stay with them, of course he'd do what he could to keep her there. But they all knew how far they'd get if the other side wasn't on the same page.
She nodded at Sam and glanced at Jet who held up a confident smile. Maybe they had a plan? She couldn't be sure if they did but she wanted to think it was true, that was comforting at least.
They walked inside and were immediately flagged down by Donna, "Hey good to see you, Desirae's uncle is already waitin' for ya."
"Awesome," Jet fake smiled and led the way inside the room Donna was gesturing to, Desirae right behind him. She looked up at a man sitting at the only table, he was older than Jet but still younger than Bobby. The stranger stared at her for a few seconds before rising from his chair and walking closer.
"Desirae?" he asked in a way to clarify he was seeing the right kid.
Rae looked up at Jet and Sam again, both giving her space to do as she pleased but not leaving her unguarded. She was safe, whatever happened next was alright, she was safe. Desirae took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah… who are you?"
"I'm your mom's brother, uncle Dwayne. Man, last time I saw you, you were just a baby." He smiled and knelt down to get a better look at her.
Rae exhaled and stepped a little closer to Jet's leg, trying to calm down wasn't working as well as she had planned it. "What'd they tell you about me?" She asked as neutrally as she could, spitting venom wasn't an animal trait she had but metaphorically anyone could do it.
"A lot," Dwayne smiled sadly and looked up at the two accompanying her, "You guys must be Sam and Jet?"
"That's us," Sam stuck his hand out in a friendlier way than Desirae thought he might, "Sam Winchester."
Dwayne took his hand and shook firmly, "Dwayne Lerone," he said proudly and turned his hand to Jet who looked at it skeptically first.
"Jet," he stated simply with little emotion if any. "What're you looking to do here, Dwayne?"
Dwayne was a little surprised by Jet's defensiveness but he didn't seem put off by it, "I'm looking to see how my niece is doing after finding out she's been alive all these years. I heard you did a lot for her, I wanted to thank you for that too."
Desirae furrowed her brow and glanced up at Jet again whose expression had softened considerably. "Oh," he blinked a few times and rubbed the back of his head, "Well you're welcome, I guess?"
"They told me about what happened," Dwayne stood up and dusted off his slacks, "about the crazy experiments and what you and your friends sacrificed." He looked at Jet's loose sleeve, "You especially, so I heard."
Jet shrugged, "She's worth it; I'd do it again if I had to."
"I believe it." Her uncle chuckled and looked back at her, he seemed much warmer than before. Though she figured it might have something to do with her own disposition on the topic rather than him actually changing so quickly. "After hearing your story I did some thinking, since I had time before you got here. And I decided that I'd open up my home to you but you can choose where you wanted to go."
Desirae's eyes lit up, "Really?"
"Really." He smiled with a slight nod, "And of course you can have our contact information no matter which place you decide to go to."
She rubbed her eyes quickly, "Thank you," it was hard to say as emotions rose but she managed it. "Thank you so much."
"She was really scared," Sam explained softly while she tried to compose herself. Jet knelt down beside her and gave her a hug, she climbed right into it. He'd been able to support her with one arm before, she figured close to the ground it'd be possible to do without adrenaline.
"After the things I heard, I'm a little surprised I'm something to be afraid of," Dwayne looked at her apologetically.
"Nah, don't worry about it." Jet smirked as she clung to him, "It's not the same kind of fear."
"Gotcha," Dwayne looked at Donna, "So how do we make this official?"
"Well we'd just need to call in the right folks, getcha to sign some papers and you'll be on yer way." She smiled brightly and stepped out of the room. "Be right back!"
"So where you going, kiddo?" Jet asked and she could tell by his tone that he was barely being serious. They both knew what she'd say.
"I wanna go home with you guys," she hugged him tightly and stayed there as long as he'd let her.
Dwayne nodded, still smiling. "Yeah, I kinda thought so."
"Another person who'd been abducted lives with us," Sam explained, "She talks with him about what happened, so-"
"You don't need to justify it," Dwayne assured him, "I can tell where she's happy and that's what matters." He looked at Desirae warmly, "Your momma woulda been proud of you."
She wasn't sure what to do with that information but it made her heart feel heavy and light at the same time. Like she knew she'd missed out on something great, but at the same time felt awesome that her biological parents would be happy for her. "Thanks Uncle Dwayne," Desirae said with a smile and went to hug him too.
The next little while was a bit boring as Sam and Jet had to figure out a bunch of paperwork with her uncle, but she'd gotten the family contact info so there was that. Desirae sat on a chair listening for what felt like hours until they were finally let go.
"All done," Jet finished filling out the work with a signature and peered down at her as she drooped across the chair pretending she was more liquid than solid. "Guess who is now officially your dad, sweetheart?"
"Is it Sam?" She grinned as Sam started laughing at Jet's slight deflation.
"Not yet," he ruffled her hair and turned a more serious eye on Sam, "or ever if he keeps laughing at me."
"Yeah, yeah." Sam kissed his cheek, "You're all bark."
Desirae hopped into Jet's lap and tried to hug them both, as soon as her attempts were noticed they moved closer to make it easier. She didn't know what to say but they usually had an idea of what she was feeling.
"Seeing you all together gives me a lot of confidence in that decision," Dwayne stated as he got up from his seat, "I'm glad I didn't make any rash choices."
"I wouldn't have been easy to push back," Jet laughed and reached over to shake Dwayne's hand again.
"Hell, I can't argue with a man who'd rip his own arm off to save a little girl's life. Let's be in touch, Jet."
"I'd like that," Jet grinned.
A few final goodbyes were in order and then the little trio watched Dwayne drive off. Jet nodded a few times and looked at Sam, "Seems like a cool guy."
"Yeah, I appreciate what he did." Sam looked down at Rae, his mouth curved up slightly but his eyes seemed to be more distant. "If it were me and I was going to pick up a kid Dean left behind after dying, I'm not sure I could just walk away like that."
"Maybe he didn't like his sister." Desirae offered cheerfully and Sam's seriousness shattered the second he started snickering.
"I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth," Jet turned back toward Donna, "Let us know when we can talk about the MacLeod shit, okay?"
"Will do." She gave a thumb's up. "They got a team up there every day, a specialist is comin' in to check on the you-know-whats tomorrow."
With that they walked out of the station again, Desirae felt a lot lighter and was pretty damn sure she needed a nap.
"Sounds like we'll be hearing about it soon," Sam mused out loud, "I wonder what kind of specialist they called in?"
"Animal specialist? Cloning expert? I dunno, a scientist probably." Jet shrugged and took up Desirae's hand as soon as he noticed she was reaching for it. "I wouldn't worry about it, I'm pretty sure we're out of the thick of it now."
"I guess so," Sam ran his hand through his hair, pushing his bangs off his face. "Kinda weird being out of it after keeping it to ourselves for so long, huh?"
"I'm just glad we didn't get in trouble for that." Jet laughed as he spoke, "I just want to be able to live now, you know? No more life and death shit, just dealing with assholes staring at us from across the street." He'd raised his voice for the last part and turned to look at some people who were not very discreetly trying to take pictures.
Desirae looked at them, they seemed younger than Sam but she wasn't really sure. Even with her dad shouting they didn't really stop, possibly because they didn't hear but she thought maybe they just didn't care.
"Hold on a sec," Jet told her as he let go and started going after them but Sam caught the back of his shirt. "You want a fuckin' photo?!" He kept yelling anyway, not bothering to fight Sam's silent 'stay here' command. "What kind of creep takes pictures of a little girl from across the street? Yeah I'm talking about you! Right there by the fuckin' mailbox. Yeah, you two! Fuck you!"
"Okay that's enough," Sam started to lead them away while Jet screamed dramatically and Desirae tried not to laugh at him.