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casspurrjoybell-19 · 6 months ago

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Does it Matter? - Chapter 46 - Part 2

*Warning: Adult Content*

"Maybe sometimes it's better to be blind."

"No. Easier, maybe. Never better."

"You don't think so?"

Brayan shook his head as he held the coat up to the firelight so that he could better see his needlework.

"One of my cousins fell off a horse as a boy. Hit his head on a fence post. After that he was a simple minded lad who grew into a simple minded man. Always a smile on his face, though and as easily entertained as a toddler."

"There's more to life than merely not suffering and a thinking mind tends to create pain for itself."

"Hmm. Maybe but..."

Bug was silent for a moment as he thought.

"What I told you this morning, about my persistent vision, about it being fulfilled... would you have preferred if I kept that to myself?"

"No. I won't pretend that I dealt with the situation gracefully or that I knew what to do with the information but knowing is always better."

"I suppose..." Bug said as he watched Brayan's face, the pinch of concentration as he worked accentuated by the firelight.

"Would you like to know why I changed my mind about leaving with Hudson?"

Brayan looked up from his sewing.

That had caught his attention.

"I would."

"It showed me a vision. Just a single moment, the two of us together, up in the mountains."

"Oh," Brayan said.

"I took it as a promise that I could have the kind of relationship I'd always dreamt of with you and return home but I realise now that it showed me no such thing."

"All you did was smile at me and who knows which side of the border we were on. I think it was nothing more than another lure designed as a foundation for me to build my own hopes and dreams on."

"I'm glad you're learning not to put quite so much trust in it," Brayan said as he returned to his sewing.

"In the vision, though... do you remember what I was wearing?"

"Oh, I... hmm. A white shirt, I think? I didn't get a look at the rest of your clothing. Why?"

Brayan shook his head.

"No reason."

********

Over the next few days of travel, Dara spent as much time with Maric as he possibly could.

He knew it would likely only make parting ways even more painful but he didn't want to look back at this time and realise he'd wasted it.

He told Maric about the happy moments, about the people and the things he missed back home.

About the mountains and the horses and their way of life.

He told him about birthing foals, about horse thieves who'd gotten more than they'd bargained for when they came face to face with an angry yenkarth, about healing a horse's broken leg and about travelling with trade caravans.

He wished he could show Maric his home but that wasn't possible, so he painted as clear a picture as he could with his words.

When Maric was lonely and missing him, that was how he wanted Maric to picture him.

Happy and safe, with his family and their horses.

Whether that was really where he'd end up, he would have to find out on his own.

No, not on his own.

Bug would be with him.

********

On the third day, they rode down a long dirt path through thick trees until they came upon a manor house buried deep in the woods.

There was a young boy outside cutting wood on a stump and when he looked up and saw them his eyes went wide and he dashed back into the house.

A minute later a man ran out, the axe the boy had been using held up like he intended to use it against them but as soon as he saw a sea of the prince's blue, he dropped the axe to his side and went pale.

He turned around and gave the boy a firm smack to the back of his head.

"Sorry, Your Highness," the man called out.

"The boy told me there were men on horseback and we weren't expecting you. Didn't mean any offense."

"We are men on horseback," Maric said as he dismounted.

"No harm done."

The man murmured something to the boy and then gave him a slap on the back as he sent him on his way.

"Apologies, Your Highness. We've not got food for a feast ready or lodgings set up or..."

"No mind," Maric said.

"We showed up unannounced. We can't expect you to be prepared when you were given no notice, can we?"

The man didn't seem to know what to say to that.

Brayan couldn't blame him.

Maric was breaking the script by taking the blame for the situation.

Other house staff had begun to quietly gather outside by now but Maric continued to directly address the original man.

"We're more used to making do than having everything just so. If you arrange something for us to eat tonight and somewhere for us to sleep, we'll have no complaints. My Captain here will also be getting together some supplies, so I'll expect him to be assisted in that in whatever way he requires."

"Of course, your highness."

"I'll need a horse," Brayan told him.

"One in good condition, suitable for long rides."

"All of the horses in the stables are the prince's property, including some sent here directly from the royal stables," the man said.

"Take whatever you need. Is there anything else?"

"Hmm," Brayan said.

"I'll make a list."

"Should I send someone to help you pick a good horse?"

"No, thank you, I'll manage," Brayan said as he handed off his horse's reins to Raedon.

He dropped his voice as he turned to Maric.

"I'll take Bug and Dara to look at the horses. Dara knows a bit about horses and he'll be able to make sure we choose one that's in good health."

Maric gave him a nod of approval.

"I'll deal with all the diplomatic nonsense and attempts at appeasement."

Dara offered him a smile and a shake of his head.

"Be kind. You told me you'd never once visited this place. These poor people finally get a visit from the prince who they've worked so hard to maintain this place for, and you've denied them even the opportunity to properly prepare so that they might impress you."

Maric let out a deep sigh but the smile on his face was fond.

"How will I manage without you?"

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raflovestuffs · 5 years ago

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Promise~

Hey there People! I’m so glad that I’m finally able to present you the first os of a two parts story I wrote and called "Upcoming Age". I have this in mind since a long time but wasn’t able to write it!

@poppysfanworld gave me the idea of the flashback and I also was inspired by the artbook and the piece of art of @looneylolita!

I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter :)

...

Like a dancing ballet, the dragons flew to the hidden world. The spectacle of their flapping wings showed the greatness of these majestic beings. Hiccup had spent five years of his life with them and witnessing their departure was by far the most difficult thing he had ever faced. Toothless’ glanced down even more. He looked at his human friend from the edge of the cliff with his big sad eyes, still hesitating to take off. The auburn-haired man smiled through his tears to reassure him, as if to say, ‘It's going to be alright’, and Toothless gave him one last look before flying off to his freedom.

The Berkians stayed long in front of this cliff, gazing at the sky, even after all the dragons had left. Thereafter, everyone had finally returned to the camp. The dragon riders had wanted to stay a little longer, but eventually did the same. Only the chief remained.

In the absence of his artificial leg to support him, he had taken a seat at the edge of the cliff and remained there until nightfall, lost in thought. The tears he had let flow earlier, had dried on his cheeks.

He heard footsteps behind him. Someone crouched down by putting their hand on his shoulder. Without having to turn around, he knew it was Astrid. His gaze crossed hers and the young man's face relaxed. His features softened as he smiled at her.

"Come on, it's time to join the others."

Hiccup sighed before agreeing. She helped him to get up and he leaned on her shoulder to walk. Astrid supported him in his steps to where the villagers had gathered. Small groups had formed around improvised campfires.

The couple passed through them, stepping over a few people. They watched the men rub their hands to warm themselves by the fire. They told each other stories from the good old days, smiling at the memory of the dragons.

Berk obviously needed to gather after the sad event that had just taken place. Sharing the happy memories that their friendship with the dragons had given them seemed like good therapy.

The further he went, the more amazement could be seen on the young leader's face. Seeing his people gather in this way made them happy despite everything that had happened.

Astrid turned to him.

"What should we do when our loved ones are not with us?"

"We celebrate them," he replied without hesitation.

That's what his father always said. He always had the right words in difficult times. Hiccup was happy to have Astrid at his side for this, among other reasons. She reminded him a lot of his father and it helped him to move forward.

They finally found their old friends sitting in a circle around a fire. The gang was complete. Fishlegs was crying in Ruffnut’s arms as she gave her brother a sadden glance. Snotlout, who was next to Tuffnut, watched the scene unfold without saying anything. They looked really bad. They looked up when their group leader and friend arrived. He smiled at them before sitting beside them.

"So what are you doing out here?" he said to them.

"Well, like everyone else... " Tuffnut replied.

"We’re telling each other stories," her sister added.

"We were recalling the time when the twins almost burned down the shoreline with the fireworms fiasco," explained Snotlout, somewhat amused.

"And I was explaining to them that it wasn't completely my fault... maybe Ruffnut’s," retorted the male twin.

Snotlout was about to say something, but Hiccup cut him off.

"The Edge... it was the good old days, wasn't it?"

"We were young and free," Astrid agreed.

The others then let themselves go to their good memories.

"The Dragon Eye... when we discovered it, it changed everything. It allowed us to explore the world... a world so vast... " his voice broke when he realized that he could never explore this world in this way anymore.

Astrid grabbed his hand and squeezed it into hers, as if to testify to his presence, she was there for him.

"It also allowed us to expand our knowledge of dragons! " exclaimed Fishlegs, who had just dried his tears. "We've discovered so much! Between the Night Terrors, the Death Songs, the Sentinels, the Eruptodons, the Razorwhips..."

This last evocation inevitably reminded him of Heather, for whom he had been of particular interest for some time. As he looked at others, he realized that they had thought of her too. Astrid put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I miss her too," she sighed, trying to smile.

"Ah... she still had the coolest dragon of all," exclaimed Tuffnut, looking nostalgic.

Everyone laughed at his dreamy gaze.

"We experienced a lot of things there, though... " said Ruffnut. "We learned to work as a team, didn't we, Astrid?" she said while giving a light punch to Astrid’s shoulder.

"Aha, that's right."

"And we have met so many different people, different cultures, different places..." added the chief.

"The last few years have been really rich," concluded his girlfriend.

"Rich in twists and turns, yeah," Snotlout suddenly exclaimed. "Don't forget that we almost got killed, I don't know how many times, by dragon hunters! Not to mention the volcano on the shore, which almost destroyed the entire island! And do you remember the time you and Fishlegs almost-"

Astrid had presented him with her axe in front of his eyes and Hiccup had hastened to lower it down gently.

"And you forget how many dragons we were able to save because of our recklessness," Hiccup reminded him.

The brown-haired man looked down, grumbling, and Hiccup continued his speech.

"We left Berk to live new adventures, to learn how to manage on our own. And that's what we did. We've been through... so much there. These last six years have undoubtedly been the best years of my life. I've been through... incredible things with Toothless, with all of you. We learned to help each other, to support each other in the most difficult times."

He turned to Astrid and looked into her eyes.

"To love each other."

The blonde's blue eyes grew larger; a smile appeared on the corners of her lips. Hiccup took her hand, squeezed it, and kissed her, before facing the gang once again.

"And as for today, we left Berk to offer a better life to our dragons and new adventures that await us."

He squeezed the hand of the young Hofferson, once more. The rest of the dragon riders looked disconcerted. They were stunned by the words of their leader. They all nodded with big eyes. All except Tuffnut.

"That's all well and good, but can you tell me who's going to take me to see Chicken now?!" he exclaimed.

The others looked at him strangely before laughing with a good heart.

Hiccup felt as if a breath of fresh air was invading him. Like he could breathe again. As if any tension had dissipated. His friends had managed to cheer him up. He felt good in their presence. And he knew he owed it to one person.

"Thank you," he said, turning to the one he loved.

This one smiles at him. With a glance, he invited her to get up to escape from the group. She took him under her arm and they left the others with a last nod.

As they moved away from the crowd to their respective tents, they observed the landscape around them. They had a whole village to rebuild, a whole life.

In front of the distracted look of her boyfriend, the blonde called him by name.

"Hiccup, are you all right?"

"I feel better. Thank you again for taking me to see them. I needed this."

The girl looked down and smiled.

"You had to make a serious decision today. It was essential to the survival of the dragons and to ours as well."

She raised his head and looked into his eyes.

"I just want you to know that even though it was hard for all of us, you made the right decision, Hiccup."

Hearing Astrid say it aloud reassured him somewhat because it was true that he had asked himself the question and had turned it over several times in his head after the fact. But Astrid knew him too well and she already knew all that.

"I'm going to miss him," the young leader whispered.

They had just arrived in front of his tent. Astrid helped him to sit on the floor while keeping a comforting hand on his shoulder. In his saddened look, she held his head in her hands.

"I'm going to miss him too, just as much as Stormfly, but you did it for their own good."

The young woman lowered her hands down along his chest.

"And, they'll always be there," she had finished saying by placing a hand on his heart.

She managed to get a smile from Berk’s chief, who covered her hand with his. His other hand caressed her face by releasing it from the golden strands that concealed it.

"You've always been there for me, Astrid."

He kissed her on her forehead.

"Toothless is my best friend. He helped me to become the man I am today. But none of this would have been possible without your support."

The girl's eyes opened wide.

"Living without him will be a difficult ordeal, but you know what, Astrid?"

He paused.

"When I picture myself happy, it's with you."

Hiccup’s face relaxed. He smiled, with misty eyes:

"Do you remember the promise I made to you when we were children?"

"As if it was yesterday," the young woman agreed.

"So I’m asking you Astrid Hofferson, do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Winter was already well settled in when young Hiccup Haddock decided to leave home. As usual, he had left without permission. Anyway, his father Stoick the Vast wasn't there to stop him. And with Gobber as his only babysitter, he could get away.

At just ten years old, the future village chief was an intrepid boy, in love with nature and its beauty. He liked to get lost in the woods. He didn't really have any friends among the children in the village, but he claimed to love his solitude. The truth is that he was only looking for recognition from his village, and for them to stop treating him a ball and chain.

He soon arrived at the entrance to the forest. He rubbed his arms to warm himself up a little before venturing inward. His feet treaded on the snow-covered ground, leaving footprints behind him, sinking deeper into the forest. The young boy had planned to land in a quiet place to observe the few birds that would hide in the hollows of the trees. In this period of extreme cold, the dragons had left as they did every time the Snoggletog period arrived. The small animals could therefore find a quiet life where they did not have to constantly escape from their dangerous flames.

Hiccup then took a position on a tree trunk from which he could observe some birds coming out to wash themselves. He grabbed his notebook and, with his left hand, began to scribble some sketches. Despite the cold and his red cheeks, he continued to draw for nearly half an hour. After a while of staying in the same position, he decided to move to another place. He went a bit further into a more densely wooded area, and settled again. He began to draw the trees around him and the white carpet at their feet. A noise, however, made him lift his head from his notebook. He closed it with one hand and approached the sound he had just heard. It sounded like cracking wood. He then, continued to walk a little further.

"Ah!"

Someone seemed to be making a physical effort. He approached again.

Tchuc!

It was a girl cutting wood. She seemed to be his age. Two blond strands of hair protruded from her white fur hat. A wolf's skin as a coat, the little girl didn't seem to feel the cold.

Tchuc!

She chopped one more log. Hiccup was watching her closely. This figure looked familiar to him, but he was not sure of himself until she turned around. Without realizing it, he had laid a hand on a branch that had broken under the pressure of the latter. The noise had alerted the blonde. He instantly stooped down to hide.

"Is anyone there?"

That voice. That authoritarian voice that could only belong to one person. Astrid Hofferson. The girl had always occupied a very large place in his heart. So much so that he fell in love with it. He had fallen in love with her fiery temperament, her ability to handle the axe like no one else and her beautiful blue eyes. Hiccup was desperately in love with this girl but he was too shy to confess it to her. Yet he wanted to, but he was too afraid of being ridiculed.

"Have you been here long?!"

The young boy jumped. He hadn't seen it coming. He immediately got up to face her. She crossed her arms on her stomach and raised an eyebrow. And Hiccup knew what it meant; she wanted answers.

"Well... that is to say..."

"What exactly were you doing?"

He gulped with difficulty.

"Well, it's just... I was in the forest and... you were there and..."

"And what Haddock?"

He was stuck. She would never want to believe it. He had to invent something. Or not. Why not go for it?

"There, I followed you because... I love you Astrid Hofferson. Since forever and... one day I will marry you."

He had done it. He had said what he had on his mind.

"It‘s never gonna happen."

And she had dashed all his hopes in less than five seconds. Hiccup stood still in front of her, wondering why he had said all these things. The poor boy didn't know where to put himself. He finally regained his senses and turned back.

"Goodbye, Hiccup."

She had said his name. Astrid had said his name. And she said goodbye to him. The young boy's legs became all shaky. He smiled a little stupidly at her before leaving, red cheeked, for his hut. Gobber could lecture him tonight, it wouldn't change anything about what happened earlier in the forest.

Astrid had tears in her eyes.

"Of course, Hiccup."

He took her in his arms and held her very tightly against him. They were both so happy. They had come a long way. Astrid was so proud of what he had become. By doing that, Hiccup was finally taking full responsibility for himself.

Astrid slipped her hand over his cheek. She looked at his face.

"I love you Hiccup Haddock," she said before kissing him tenderly.

...

Huddled together in the chief's bed, Hiccup and Astrid were not asleep. They didn't need to talk either. One look was enough. And Hiccup looked her in the eye. He had a question.

"When?" he asked, clasping her hand.

"When what?"

"When are you going to be my wife?"

She smiled.

"In winter, just like when we got engaged."

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caranfindel · 6 years ago

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Recap/review 14.19: “Jack in the Box”

THEN: Eh, you know all this. Oh, wait, here's something interesting - a reminder that Naomi was overcome by the Empty slime. Which reminds me of my theory that Naomi and/or Duma might actually be the Empty Entity. Hmmm. Oh, and also, all the Jack stuff.

NOW: There's a bunch of hunters in the bunker, drining beer and looking at pictures of Mary and her stuff on the map table. Including the picture Sam burned. Well, I'm glad it wasn't the only copy. And whatever these rings and calipers are that are always on the map table, apparently they're permanent, because they weren't removed for this little memorial display. Also, John's journal is part of the display, and I know they gave it to Mary to read, but still, it's John's. This bothers me.

So, are these surviving AU hunters? If not, that means the Winchesters have opened the bunker up to every hunter they know (and revealed its location to everyone they know), which is... not what I would have done. TFW makes an entrance (why were they not in there with their guests) and Dean thanks them for coming and makes a little speech but I'm finding it real hard to concentrate on Dean right now because LOOK AT SAM'S SHIRT. LOOK AT IT. It's CLOSE-FITTING and it's NOT PLAID and whatever awful things this episode does (and my completely unspoiled prediction is that IT WILL DO AWFUL THINGS), we at least got this.

I strongly suspect this is actually Jared's shirt.

Dean informs the gathered that they missed the pyre, sorry. And he mentions that some of them fought Michael with her in the other world so they ARE AU hunters! Or at least some of them! Well, that's good to know. Sam doesn't have to feel personally responsible for killing everyone who came over, just a handful. Including the only one who had a name, and probably that guy who called him Chief (sob), but some of them remain. Anyway. Dean gives his eulogy (and Sam's not the only worth a second look in this scene, because Dean looks pretty amazing as well) and they drink beer and then an AXE FLIES IN OUT OF NOWHERE, SLOWLY AND AWKWARDLY SPIRALING INTO A HUNTER'S HEAD. People seem surprised, but it's the mild kind of surprise you'd get if he threw his beer at somebody, not if an axe suddenly appeared embedded in his head. The thrower of the axe walks in - it's New Bobby. WELL.

Title card! Bobby informs me that it was a hatchet, not an axe, and he wants it back. (Sidebar: It literally never occurred to me to think about the difference between a hatchet and an axe until earlier this week when I was listening to a murder podcast that specified someone was killed with one, not the other.) He also tell us that the "hunter" was actually a wraith "from a nest your mom and I busted up" and SEE, GUYS? This is why you don't invite people to the bunker. Now a bunch of wraiths probably know where it is. And we know the warding is a joke. Cas thinks Mary would have appreciated a monster at her memorial. I don't think Cas knows Mary very well but whatever.

Bobby asks Sam how he and "the other one" are doing, and we watch Dean pack up Mary's belongings (including John's journal? that's going away?) and Sam says he "seems to be doing okay" which is, of course, how they operate. No one asks how Bobby's doing, even though he had a relationship with Mary too (and over the course of her life probably spent as much time with her as Sam did, when you come right down to it), but Bobby says he's not into public displays of grief anyway, and Dean is probably the same (which is true, except for when it's very very not true).

Sam suggests they drink the scotch Ketch left (and I wonder if this means Ketch came for the memorial, and left some scotch, or if he's referring to a bottle from a previous season that somehow remained through all those events that really would have called for some serious scotch-drinking) and talk about Mom. Dean points out that they have been talking about Mom and stalks out and leaves Sam sad.

Sam and Bobby and Cas settle for beer instead, and Dean walks in just as Bobby asks "what exactly happened to her, cause I'm hearing, the kid." Oh, that's interesting that they wouldn't have given him the whole story. Or maybe it's not. Maybe it makes sense that they'd keep things vague, tell everyone she "died on a hunt." Dean needs a drink, but not in the bunker. Sam tells him they need to talk about Jack, and he says "we will" and quickly makes his escape. Bobby and Cas have this funny exchange.

I liked the kid. We fought together. But there's only way this ends.

Bobby's right. We have to find Jack and help him.

What?

Hee! Cas feels Jack might not realize what he did was wrong, and Bobby astutely points out that if he didn't realize it was wrong, that's kind of a big problem, because if Kelly's influence has been burned away, that means Lucifer is all that's left. Bobby means to hunt him down. "An unstoppable monster who don't know right from wrong gets put down." Um, Bobby, let's consider the unstoppable part of that declaration. (Also, should someone point out to Bobby that Jack accidentally killed someone even back when he did have a soul? Probably not.)

Cut to Jack, who is still? again? at an abandoned warehouse or factory or something. He's remembering what he did, and wishing his mother was there to tell him what to do. Oh, she's not here, but Hallucidad is. He tells Jack that the Winchesters don't care about him, he was just a pet and a weapon, and again, it hurts knowing that this is Jack's subconscious saying these things. Jack thinks he can explain and apologize, and if that's so, Jack, then why didn't you do that when they caught you raising Mary's not-corpse? No, says Hallucifer, they hate you.

Cut to Dean, sitting outside somewhere in the dark, crying.

This is not okay. I mean, it is, but it's not.

Heaven. (yawn.) Cas again tells Duma that he wants to see Naomi, and again she denies him. It turns out Naomi is in "a very small cell" because Heaven was invaded under her watch. I didn't think they had enough spare angels around to lock one up just because they don't think she's a good leader. She might be a great follower. (Yeah, probably not.) Cas tells her he needs help looking for Jack, who has burned through his soul and is no longer being protected by the Winchesters. Hmmm, she says, this is very useful information to have. Internally. Out loud, she tells Cas she'll see what she can do, which he of course takes as an offer to help. Oh, Cas.

Bunker. Sam's working at his computer when Dean comes back. Sam's wearing a different shirt. I don't know if that means it's the next day, or just that he changed out of his nice funeral shirt. He asks Dean how he's doing, but Dean ignores that and asks what Sam's doing.

Trying to find Jack. We've gotta find him before Bobby and his crew, because if they find him first -

He's gonna kill them all.

... I don't know.

Oh, Sam, you DO know. You are obviously concerned about Bobby et al killing Jack, not the other way around. And it breaks my heart. Sam also wants to talk about Mary and the fact that they don't have to rely on faith to know Mary's in Heaven, because they personally know Heaven and angels are real. Dicks, but real. He says Mary's in a great place, with John, because again we're forgetting or denying what we know about Heaven. Dean, the eternal ray of sunshine, points out that there wasn't enough of Mary left to bring back to life even if they wanted to.

Back to Jack, who has a surprise visitor. It's Duma! Oh, cool, she's helping Cas find him, just like she said she would! Ha ha ha nope. (Sidebar: How did Duma find him, and why doesn't Cas have the same ability? Discuss.) He remembers her from his trip to Heaven that one time he died. She tells him Mary's death wasn't his fault, and he deserves redemption after his mistake, because he has "a glorious destiny." She tells him Heaven has fallen apart since God left, and no one gives them the respect they deserve, but Jack, YOU can save Heaven and make the world better and wouldn't that make Sam and Dean happy? Their first stop on the Make The World Better Tour is to turn a famous God denier into a pillar of salt. Oh, irony. (Also, he's safe from ghosts now, so. Bonus?)

Bunker. Cas is telling the Winchesters that Heaven promised to "make every effort" to find Jack. Which 1) isn't exactly what we saw happening, unless you're naive enough to think "I'll see what I can do" means "I'll make every effort", and b) even if that is what Duma said, as Dean points out, "Oh, Heaven promised? Great, well we should take that to the bank." But Cas thinks Heaven has as much reason to want to find Jack as they do. Which is true. But doesn't mean they're going to turn him over to you, Cassie.

Coincidentally, Sam has just read about Professor Pillar of Salt. "Why does that sound familiar?" Dean asks. You know, I don't know the Bible very well. If a particular event didn't show up in "Jesus Christ Superstar" or "The Ten Commandments," I'm not likely to be familiar with it. And yet I know about Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt. And I've never been to Heaven or met an angel. So.

Cas explains the story and says no ordinary angel could turn a human into salt. Sam reads another story about a dishonest televangelist (yeah, I know, that's redundant) who had a crevice open in the ground under her and swallow her up, and again Dean's not familiar with the story, but this time I'm not either. But Cas knows it's from the book of Numbers. Allegedly, only Jack or Chuck himself could perform these acts.

Heaven. Duma tells Jack he's doing excellent work, and he can help bring Heaven back to its previous glory.

Sam and Dean will like that?

Words can't begin to express how Sam and Dean will feel.

Hee!

So let's talk about what's going on here. I appreciate that they're framing this as Jack trying to get back into Sam and Dean's good graces. In fact, I'm a little hopeful at this point. If Jack-who-is-being-used-by-Heaven is the Big Bad, doesn't that mean stopping the Big Bad could just mean they rescue him from Duma's manipulation? Maybe? (Yeah, I know. But a girl can dream.)

Anyway. Duma's next task for Jack is to create more angels. She tells him he can't make them out of thin air, but if a human is "predisposed" to it, he might be able to forge them into an angel. Oooooh, this opens up some chilling possibilities about who could be turned into an angel. But it turns out he's not going after anybody named Winchester. He's just sitting on the throne "where your grandfather received prayers" (and where your father sat) and listening to prayers. (Sidebar: Why hasn't Sam tried to communicate with Jack by praying to him? Discuss.)

For whatever reason, he hones in on one particular group of worshippers who are about to discuss the book of Samuel (hee!) with Pastor Ames. Jack zaps into the room, asks if they meant it when they said they wanted to go to Heaven, and shows them his wings. Sold! Pastor Ames missing that demonstration, so when he comes in and calls Jack a liar, Jack hits him with another Biblical curse: "he was eaten by worms and breathed his last." Pastor Ames falls to the ground with worms popping out of him everywhere, and Jack and his future angels disappear.

Hospital. Guys, look at the suits! Have they ever worn such narrow pants? What is going on here? Someone new in the wardrobe department?

Mama like.

Agents Kilmister, Clark, and Taylor (hee) are visiting bandaged-up Pastor Ames, who identifies a photo of Jack. They leave, and Cas recites the relevant verse and Sam says, surprised, "so you think this is another Bible thing?" AS IF THAT WASN'T WHY THEY'RE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE, and as they leave, we see that Pastor Ames is not over his worm infestation after all.

Back at the bunker, Dean tells Sam that he didn't want it to come to this, but they have no choice. Come to what? What's behind the door in room 5B? It's the thing we all knew was coming - the box! (And if you didn't see it coming, the title of this episode clearly gave it away, which is why I consider titles of unaired episodes to be spoilers.) Sam, who is clearly not behind this plan in any way shape or form, points out that they don't have the ability to force Jack into the box, and he won't go in there of his own free will.

But he might. He might if he only has to stay in there long enough for us to finish the spell to fix his soul.

Spell? What spell? There is no spell.

*We* know that.

Oh, no, this is not good, and Sam already hates it.

... So, you want to lie to him.

No, I mean, I *want* Zeppelin to get back together. But what I *need*, what *we* need, is to stop Jack. Big difference. But here's the deal; we both gotta sign off on it. This might be our only shot, and if he even catches a whiff that this is a scam, he's off into the wind.

Exactly. Now, how do you think he's not gonna know something's up?

Because you're gonna be so damn sincere -

Me? Why me?

Because you've always been in his corner. You're his go-to guy. Sam, if you reach out, he'll come. If I do it, after what happened to Mom, I could lose him. I *will* lose him.

Oh no, no, no, Sam is SO not on board with this plan. Because the worst thing that could happen is that it doesn't work, and the second worst thing is that it does work. Dean is so calmly insistent, and Sam is so unhappy, and his FACE when Dean tells him HE will be sincere is just killing me, and no matter what I think about this episode or or this entire story arc, I love what the guys are doing with this scene.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding a silver lining here.

Sam sits down at the library table and begins praying to Jack, which doesn't answer my question of why they haven't already tried communicating with him that way. In fact, it makes me ask it harder. He tells him that they're family, and bad things happen in families but they want to get through it, they want to be like they were before. Jack hears Sam's prayer as he assembles his future angels. Meanwhile, Cas has barged his way into Heaven to rescue Jack, having figured out that Heaven has no mercy and angels do bad things, and Cas? How is this POSSIBLY news to you? Duma threatens to end Mary and John's happy little afterlife together (Is this confirmation that they really are sharing a Heaven, even though his name isn't on the door? Maybe. Do I accept it? Not necessarily) so Cas stabs her. Well. We're down to, what, ten angels now? He calls for Jack, but Jack's already gone, having just appeared in the bunker.

Jack tells Sam and Dean he's been working with Heaven, and "if it helps, I regret it... the accident."

Again, the guys do a beautiful job with this scene. Even if it's an awful, awful scene, they're acting the hell out of it. Sam is as anxious as he was when he was trapped in a cell with Jack the day he was born, the way his hands twitch when he gets up from the table and circles behind Dean, and then carefully places himself between Dean and Jack, and how he physically reacts when Jack steps closer, and they're both keeping their distance and moving so carefully, and then there's the way Dean is practically unblinking and is very obviously working SO HARD not to spontaneously combust, staying practically motionless and keeping his voice even, although anyone could tell he's absolutely BOILING under the surface from the look on his face and his tone of voice every time he says the accident. All of this is amazing.

But yeah, it is also an awful scene. Because Jack isn't guilty or apologetic at all. He's actually kind of smug about working with Heaven and making angels, and very condescending about regretting "the accident," and I just don't think he would be there. I think he would tell them how sorry he was, and that he tried to fix it, and basically everything he said to Hallucifer. He wouldn't say "I knew you'd understand" when they tell him they forgive him. His blind self-assurance would make sense if it came at the end of a 2- or 3-episode arc, where Duma had spent more than a day telling him how awesome he was. So while I love Sam and Dean in this scene, love them to pieces, Jack is just... ugh. Beyond OOC. Moving on. Dean tells Jack they're working on a way to fix his soul, and they want to keep him safe (from having another ACCIDENT) in the meanwhile. Sam oh-so-tentatively puts a hand on Jack's shoulder and dear GOD he is so afraid and I LOVE IT.

Again, quite a silver lining to this dark little raincloud.

They take him to the room with the magic box, which Dean claims is "actually pretty comfortable." Dean stays still and Sam fidgets and Jack says "okay" and climbs into the box. "How long before I can come out?" he asks. Sam is more and more fidgety as he says "not too long," and Dean is like stretched rubber band about to snap as he holds himself back from slamming the lid down. "Jack, we got this," Sam lies. "Okay," Jack says again, and he lies down and they didn't even put a pillow in the damn box, why does he think this is okay, why does he think they're working in his best interest if they didn't even give him a damn pillow? Dean shuts the lid and rushes to close the locks and Sam hates this, hates it so much.

Shhh. Don't even listen. Just turn the sound down and enjoy the pretty, pretty angst.

Alone in the box, Jack calls to the Winchesters, but they're already shutting the door to room 5B. They move to the kitchen to finish off Ketch's scotch and talk about the future.

So what do we do now? Just go on, with Jack locked up in there forever?

We have to.

I don't know if I can do that.

Dean ignores Sam's shaky voice and decides to talk about the scotch and sure, we all recognize this is Dean's way of coping. Pretend it's not happening, pretend it doesn't bother him. Because I have to think that, no matter how much he wants revenge against Jack, he understands that being locked in that box forever is still a horrible fate. (A fate Dean was willing to accept, but still.) Sam, meanwhile, needs to talk, just like he needed to talk about Mary.

You know, I never thought it would end like this, with Jack.

Sammy, we knew from the beginning it was a long shot with him.

Yeah. Yeah. But, long shots are kind of our thing.

So let's talk about Sam's guilt. His beautiful, beautiful guilt. Not only over tricking someone he loves into being locked up in a box forever, but for bringing Jack into their lives in the first place. And yet. Jack has always been unstoppable, hasn't he? So if Sam hadn't opened his humongous heart and taken him in, he would have been out there alone. No one teaching him how to use and control his powers, no one keeping him away from Lucifer. He would have been an unstoppable enemy instead of an unpredictable ally. Sam did the right thing, even though it ended bad. Because it was always going to end bad.

Have I mentioned that I could watch an entire episode that was just Dean drinking?

Back in room 5B, Jack's starting to panic, and still calling for Sam and Dean. They don't show up, but Hallucifer does (oh god, I want to see Sam find out he basically locked Jack in that box with Lucifer) and informs Jack he's been played.

In the kitchen, Cas arrives with the news that Duma has been manipulating Jack, and they really need to find him. The guys are all, oh, whoops, forgot to call you, he's here, locked in the box.

Jack gets glowy eyes and tries to break out of the box, but nothing happens.

Cas is horrified that the guys still plan to keep Jack in the box, even knowing his latest acts were due to being manipulated. Sam says "That's the problem. If he's that easily manipulated, he's too dangerous to be out of the box." Oh, no he doesn't. Instead, Dean says "He agreed to it." Yes, in much the same way Sam agreed to be Gadreel's vessel. You keep telling yourself that, Dean. In fact, Dean is trying to claim that deep down, Jack knows it's best. Oh, no, no you don't. Cas points out that Dean manipulated Jack as much as Duma did.

(Sidebar: I'm convinced that Sam would be able to forgive Jack. Because of his endless capacity for forgiveness, and because he sees himself as being in Jack's shoes at a different point in his life. Dean, on the other hand, would not. Because Dean is a normal human being when it comes to forgiveness, and because Dean puts loyalty to family above everything else.)

Box. Jack tries harder. Lucifer laughs. The box glows.

Kitchen. The arguing is interrupted by an earth-shattering kaboom. Things fall off shelves. The red emergency lights and klaxon come on. TFW leaps up and runs to room 5B. The room is a smoke-filled wreck and a figure with glowing gold eyes is walking out of the red-tinged smoke. "Jack," Sam gasps.

Duh duh duuuuuhhhh! Next week, Cas makes Dean write I knew a nephilim was more powerful than its angel parent but I assumed the box would be stronger than Jack anyway 100 times on the blackboard.

Okay, the bad happened, as we all figured it would. But let's talk about the good. Jack's not locked in the box forever. That's a relief - it would have been a very unsatisfactory conclusion. And the guys looked extraordinary. And there was so much emotion, both the tightly-controlled type, and the worn-on-his-sleeve type, and I love them both. Honestly, considering what happened in this one, and who wrote it, it was a lot better than I expected. A lot better than it could have been. (Will I go read your reactions now and see that every single one of you disagrees with me? Quite possibly.)

Next week is the next-to-last "Carry On Wayward Son."

Please help me stay unspoiled, thanks!

#spn #tv recaps #recap #14.19 #spoilers

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