Chapter 9.

Cas looked at Jules as Crowley explained their latest developments to Jack. it was going well. Jack liked their ideas for allowing souls to work their passage from Hell to Heaven with good deeds and repentance. Meg was looking at Jack as if he were a live grenade, moving out of the way whenever he accidentally moved closer to her. Crowley seemed relaxed, but a stiffness in the shoulders told Cas that it was an act. The demonic members of the team were acutely aware of Jack's power.

Samandriel and Bobby were only slightly troubled by it. Both trusted in Jack's goodness, at least to a degree, but neither had seen him grow into his power and they didn't know for sure that he would not grow angry and smite someone.

Jules was as unafraid as Cas. She loved and trusted Jack. She saw him as a son and her faith in him was absolute. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked Jack.

"Whisky." said Crowley.

"Okay." she said, fetching a bottle and glass for him.

"You're a treasure." he said.

"Jack?" she said.

"I'd like a beer, if you have one." he said.

"Can't you just magic up a beer any time you want one?" said Bobby.

"It's not the same." said Jack.

"Why not?" said Crowley, quickly adding, "Your Divineness."

"Jack." said Jack, "We do names, not titles, here. It's not the same because here, the beer is waiting for me in the refrigerator."

"He likes to know the beer is ready for when he comes home." said Jules, effortlessly understanding the alien thoughts of a celestial, as always.

"Except, he never lived here and this place doesn't really exist." said Crowley.

"Everything exists." said Jack, "The fact that this is a mental construct doesn't mean it's not real."

"Come again?" said Crowley.

"A little too complicated for you, Crowley?" said Meg.

"I'll simplify it." said Jack, "Home is where my family is, whether the space they inhabit exists in any meaningful way or not. My family exists."

Cas turned away a little, so nobody could see his smile but Jules. She was smiling too, as proud of Jack as he was. "I'll get you that beer." she said.

"Thankyou." said Jack. Cas still found that strange and new, a deity who gave thanks and asked none in return.

Jules brought him the beer and put it in his hand. The smile that passed between them warmed Castiel's heart. He loved the sweet simplicity of their relationship, the ease with which Jules had become his beloved earthly mother, almost as dear to him as Kelly, his mother in Heaven.

"A question!" said Crowley, "Can a soul in Heaven, by bad deeds and evil thoughts, fall back into Hell?"

"Yes, absolutely." said Jack.

"So what? Even after redemption, we're all screwed if we make a mistake?"

"No," said Jack, "It would need to be a series of very deliberate acts of evil and we are talking actual evil, not the little vices that trouble us all."

"All?" said Crowley, raising an eyebrow at Jack.

"I have vices." said Jack. He lowered his voice, "I sometimes cheat at Monopoly. I drink beer. I laugh at Dean's jokes about vegans."

"Those are not vices." said Crowley, "If nobody bleeds and nobody screams and nobody ends up homeless in the gutter, it's not a vice. It's barely a peccadillo."

Samandriel said quietly, "I have vices too. I doubt, I question."

"Not nearly enough." said Meg.

"Those are not vices to me." said Jack, "The truth has nothing to fear from questions and lies should not be protected from them. And if you ever think I am wrong, tell me, because you may be right."

"Could be a mistake." said Crowley, "A king should not show weakness or self-doubt."

"To admit you may be wrong is strength, not weakness." said Cas.

"Chuck would not have said so." said Crowley.

"Chuck now sweeps the streets for a living." said Cas.

"Now, how would you know that?" said Crowley.

"Because he buys him food sometimes." said Jack, "And cleans his apartment. And offers him advice that he refuses to take."

"You know about that, then." said Cas. He had thought he was sufficiently discreet.

"Know and approve. I pity him too." said Jack.

"I don't." said Crowley "He was worse than I was. After everything he did to your beloved Winchesters, Castiel, I'm surprised you don't want to kill him."

"Frankly, so am I." said Cas, "If you saw him ... "

"If I saw him, I would tear out his heart and eat it!" said Crowley. He looked at Jack and said, "Subject to divine approval, of course. I'd like to make my way to the penthouse."

"Some hope of that!" said Meg.

"He has as much chance as you do." said Cas.

"Exactly. None. I'm under no illusions. I am not a good person. I never will be."

"I disagree." said Cas.

"You think everyone has a chance at redemption. I don't. What I am is what I've always been."

"Not true." said Jack, "You were once a blameless child."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me. What good did that do me?"

"I'm sorry." said Jack, "I was trying to encourage you, not hurt you."

"She can't be hurt." said Crowley, "Heart of pure flint!"

"Crowley, enough!" said Cas.

Crowley looked at Jack and fell silent. Jack looked ready to back Cas up with all of his godly powers.

After a long silence he said, "Forgive me. I spoke out of turn."

Cas heard Jack whisper to Meg, "When you get to Heaven, things will get interesting. You'll bring a new perspective."

"I can't be saved." she said, "But I'll settle for being allowed to exist."

"Rēšaya," said Jack, "I believe in you."

"She died in the dust of Susa." said Meg.

"If you knew Susa, like I know Susa ... " said Crowley, "Did some time-travelling in Mesopotamia once."

"Shame we didn't meet." said Meg, "I could have stabbed you in an alley and left you to die."

"Castiel, if I can't talk to her like that ... "

"Meg," said Cas wearily, "Please don't."

"The past is boring." said Meg, though she looked anything but bored, her eyes blazing with anger.

Jack spoke again, gently, "Your past is not who you are. It is not what you are."

"I am Meg. I'm not that ... "

"Understood." said Jack.

"You know demons are not worth your time, right?" she said.

"I think you are." said Jack, "Both of you."

"Hate to agree with the whore, but we may not be." said Crowley.

"Now you sound like Dean." said Jack.

"You flatter me."

"I agree." said Cas, "You flatter him."

Bobby went to his desk and made some notes in his journal. "Considering you two don't wanna get smote," he said, "You sure do get smart."

"I have no plans to smite anybody." said Jack, "And I owe these two a lot. Almost as much as I owe you."

"You don't owe me a thing, kid. We hardly know each other and first thing you did was bring me back here."

"Every time you helped Sam, Dean or Castiel, you left me with a debt I can't hope to repay."

"Gold is always nice." said Crowley, "Gold, concubines, a few diamonds, maybe. Just spitballing, here."

Meg gestured to Crowley. "That's what we are, greedy, basic, selfish and crude."

"And both of you died to save others and those others were important to me." said Jack.

"You know, I really regret trying to have you killed." said Crowley.

Jack smiled and bowed his head. "It's good of you to say so." he said.