DEAR JACK,
Can you believe it?
Almost home.
Now that the ending is approaching,
Death must certainly be on the edge of her seat.
Yet, I'm still unsure who it is she'll be asking for.

❂

THE MOMENT THAT THE SUN HAD BEGAN TO PEEK THROUGH THE TREES, THE GROUP HAD BEGUN THEIR JOURNEY TO HEAD HOME— AND TO MOST, IT WOULD BE THEIR NEW HOME. A bus had been up and running to carry the group and a separate car for Sam and Dean to drive up ahead. Everything had seemed in place and ready to go— except for two people.

Jack and Rose had felt that their time in this universe was not quite done yet. Jack had big plans to handle Michael, and Rose had wanted to be there right beside him for a few reasons. Standing behind Jack, she had zipped up his bag for him as she had glanced over her shoulder. Everyone had been so focused on making sure people were making it into the bus, that no one had paid them close attention.

The moment that Rose had spotted Constance climbing aboard the bus, she had hurried around Jack and gave him a nod. "All right, let's go," she said quietly.

Taking her hand in his, he gave her a reassuring smile when he saw the worry on her face. "It'll be okay."

"I know, but we should go now." She had made sure to smile back at him to show her confidence in heading out. She had known that it would all be okay because this was her chance to escape. In fact, it felt like it was both their chance. Jack could leave Lucifer before he could listen to anymore of his lies and stories. And for Rose, she was desperate to get away from Constance now that Sam had truly started to show her that what she believed was love was wrong.

There was a relief inside her as the two had begun to walk away from the group and start their own journey together. It had felt freeing to finally know that there wasn't going to be a fear of messing up and being the disappointment she believed herself to be. But as Sam Winchester told her, they were family— he would fight for her and never leave her side.

The moment Sam had saw the two with their backpacks on and heading away, he had followed after and called out their names. Rose had kept her head down and tried to keep them walking, but Jack had put each of them to a stop as he turned his way.

Sam's eyes shifted between the two in concern. "Hey, where you two headed?"

"Before we go, there's something we have to do. Something we promised ourselves to do. Kill Michael," Jack admitted. He was confident in himself to accomplish this task he had set for him. As for Rose, she had given a nod in agreement though she felt she had more to gain than just killing Michael if they had left.

"Jack, you can't..." Sam's voice began to stutter as he tried to find the right words to keep them to stay. However, the sound of approaching footsteps had caused him to look over his shoulder and just as he had dreaded, Lucifer was making his way up to them with a smile and a need to be a dad. Rather than begin a fight with him, Sam turned back towards the two and gestured over to the bus. "We need to get these people to the rift. We'll seal Michael up and leave him here."

"No," Jack spoke sternly. "Look, I've seen what he's done, the people he's killed. He deserves to be punished. After what he did to us..."

"We're the only ones who can kill him," Rose said gently.

"You shouldn't have to. There's another way."

Lucifer raised his hand out towards Sam as he took control of the conversation. "Yeah, I got this." He had begun to build a connection with Jack that he was so sure of himself to talk him into coming with. Even so, he had built a relationship with Constance that he believed would bring in Rose. And after some parenting tips, he believed he had convinced Constance to find a new approach into brining Rose back to her and away from the Winchesters. It was exactly what he was doing with Jack— lying and pretending to care and be the parent they never had.

Sam had remained quiet, his lips put together in a tight straight line in order to not put up a fight against Lucifer. He watched as Lucifer had laid a hand on each of their shoulders, bending down to their level to maintain eye contact. "See, I think what Sam is trying to say in his own... super simplistic and silly way... is maybe you kids should give this a rethink. I mean, Jack, I know I've been encouraging you to take Michael out, but it ain't easy. Titanic, your mom back there told me how much she taught you that this takes time to plan. Time we don't have. If he catches you two, then we're all gonna have to waste a lot of time trying to rescue you, and that puts pretty much everyone in danger."

Jack and Rose had looked to one another, unsure what to do at this point. Whether they liked to admit it or not, Lucifer had a point. It was exactly what Sam had been trying to say, and somehow he felt more convincing. Rose felt dirty just thinking that Lucifer could persuade her in any way, so she knocked his hand off her shoulder and straightened out her bag. "Fine," she stated.

"Fine," Lucifer said softly as his smile grew. "See, Jack, Titanics on board. I know you feel like you're doing the right thing, but sometimes, doing the right thing can go wrong."

Jack had looked over to Sam with guilt, but that guilt wasn't a concern when he felt it was the right thing to do now. "My father makes a valid point."

Looking to Sam next, Lucifer leaned in to whisper. "Father," he repeated as he sent him a wink. It was all he had wanted and he knew how much that one word had broken Sam's hope. Hiding his amusement, Lucifer had looked back to the two. "Good boy. And Titanic, thank your mom while you're at it. If she hadn't spotted you leaving, I may have never convinced you to stay."

Rose turned away from him and felt Jack's hand slip out of hers. He had instead walked off with Lucifer, who had his arm wrapped over his shoulder and brought him into a conversation to solidify the idea of being a father in Jack's eyes. Sam, on the other hand, had waited for Rose. Mostly because he had his suspicions that there was still the chance she would leave if she was alone.

"Maybe I shouldn't go," she said gently as she looked up to him next. "What good am I when we get back? Dean might have me pack my bags..."

Sam held up a hand to cut her off. "You know he wouldn't do that."

"He's done it before."

"Then I wouldn't let him do that to you," Sam corrected. However, as a silence began to settle, he had dropped his hand down to his side. "We have less than two hours to get back to the rift. Now, if you wanna stay behind, that's fine, but that's not happening alone because I'll be coming with you."

"Like Lucifer said, it'd be wasting time because then everyone would come looking for you."

"They'd come looking for both of us and you know that." Shoulders slacking, he had decided to stop with the back and forth and find out the truth from her. "This isn't about Michael or Dean. You wanna talk about what this really is?"

Rose hesitated as she held on tight to the straps of her bag. She looked back over to the bus and all those getting ready to leave and still she had dreaded it. Because in the group of people had been Constance, who had been ready to follow with them— to follow Rose. Her eyes remained on a Constance as she spoke quietly to Sam. "If I stay here, then she'll just leave. She'll go wherever Lucifer does but if I'm there too, then it's just a bonus." Slowly looking to Sam, she told him the truth that she had kept to herself from everyone. "We were going to leave the other night. But then Dean, Cas, and Gabe showed up and then you did. Except you brought him with you and she wanted to stay." She swallowed hard as she felt the guilt rising for going against Constance's words. "She believes in this special power in me or whatever. Being a demon, and then also being a witch... She thought I could help her out."

"Help her in what way?"

"She thinks that working with her could maybe bring back Lucifer. It was a way to defeat Michael and I thought that's why Michael didn't want me a demon."

"And you don't think so anymore?"

Rose shook her head as she looked down to the ground. "I think that there's something in me. I can kill angels with a snap of my finger. Imagine what I could do to an archangel." Turning her eyes up to Sam, she gave a small shrug. "I don't think Constance really cared if Michael was dead or not. Because it was all about the plan. The plan to bring back Lucifer. The plan to kill Michael. The plan to save this planet. But since he showed up, she's different. She's happy and the plans changed."

"I don't want to defend her, but don't you think that maybe it's because we found another way?"

Sam's suggestion was shrugged off as she looked around her. "She's a revengeful person. The way she talked about Crowley or Rowena... She'd do anything to watch them die all over again. Michael destroyed everything she had and now she doesn't care if we get up and leave."

Sam glanced down to his phone as the time slowly ticked by and yet every second counted. Meeting Rose's eyes, he wished he could give her more answers or more time to talk. Frowning, he shoved his phone back into his pocket. "These people need us. I need you, and I can't help them if you leave. You give me some time to talk things through with Dean, and you won't ever have to see her again. Neither of them."

"What will you do?"

Sam glanced back at the bus to see Lucifer proudly sitting in the driver's seat as Constance hung on every word. Only, she had made sure to keep her eyes on Sam and Rose as the continued to speak. Furrowing his brows, Sam turned over to Rose with a plan. "That rift doesn't stay open forever. We get you and Jack on the other side— we get you home. Constance and Lucifer— they might not be able to make it through in time. You just gotta trust me and Dean."

Rose was hesitant to trust something that could end a lot differently if something didn't go according to plan. But it did beat taking the chance with Michael in this world. Giving a small nod, she had followed alongside Sam as they had headed towards the bus with everyone else.

As they had came forward, Dean had intercepted them heading towards the bus. He had looked over his shoulder, being sure to meet Constance's eyes before looking over to Sam and Rose again. "No way in hell is she on that bus. Not with Lucifer on board. She's with us in our car."

Rose had hid her relief well. "That sounds good to me," she said. As she had went to walk off with them, Dean had stopped her as he signaled for Sam to go. "Sam told me what's going on here," he whispered. "Don't hate him for it, okay? He's trying to protect you and I still want that for you. I may not be showing it because I am angry. I'm pissed. It was at you when it shouldn't have been. Truth is, when I was a demon, just like you, I gave myself hell for it. So I know what you're putting yourself through and I shouldn't add to that."

Rose had felt herself smiling up at him because for once, Dean had found himself opening up since getting here. It was the first time he could look into her eyes without causing her to feel a pain she had wished she never felt before. "Thanks, Dean."

Slapping a hand down on her back, he brushed off the apology and walked her over to the car. Only a few were riding with them— Jack and Gabriel, now that Cas had chosen to watch Lucifer closely.

As they had approached the Jeep, Dean hopped into his spot and turned to the backseat. "Gabe, scoot over, we got company. You get middle seat."

"Seriously?" He questioned, unwilling to move over. "Middle seat is the smallest. I don't know who's ass you're checking out, but mine won't squeeze in there."

"Well make it," he demanded.

Jack had raised a hand as he began to sit forward. "I can sit in the middle."

"Nope. Rose doesn't want to sit by you. She told me herself," Dean said before continuing to pressure Gabriel. "Scoot it, man. We don't got all day."

Scoffing loudly, Gabriel had roughly scooted his way into the middle spot, not caring how much he had shoved Jack against the door. He felt he was a lot better than this and deserved some respect. But he also hadn't been around to see all Dean's attempts to keep Jack and Rose separated.

Climbing into the car, Rose was quiet as she sat beside Gabriel. She had liked him since meeting him, but was sure Dean could ruin that with all his nagging.

Turning around in his seat, Sam had checked to see everyone had been okay in their spots as Dean pressed on the gas. He caught as Jack and Rose each leaned forward, looking passed Gabe as they smiled at one another. "You should probably tell him," Sam said quietly.

Overhearing, Dean kept his eyes on the road but his focus on the conversation. "Tell me what? What's going on?"

Nervous and slightly confused, Jack had narrowed his eyes at Sam. "Cas and Mary told us we weren't allowed to mention it until we got home."

"We're nearly there. Now tell me what's going on," Dean pressured.

Jack had exchanged nervous glances with Rose. He did not want to be the one to tell Dean about their new relationship given he feared Dean could easily end his life. Taking it into her own hands, Rose had spoke up from behind Dean. "Jack and I are dating now."

There was a moment of silence as Dean had processed the news. It had been unexpected and to him, totally unacceptable. "Nope," he said loudly. "Break up now."

"Really?" Jack questioned nervously under his breath. He always believed in following Dean, and this time he didn't want to but was unsure how Dean would handle it.

"Yeah, right now," Dean said. But the two had met one another's eyes and Rose had shook her head. Dean may have wanted a break up, but after everything they went through so far, she felt they didn't need to lose something else.

"I wish I was on the bus," Gabriel sighed, rolling his eyes at all of us, shifting uncomfortably in the middle seat.

Digging into her pocket, Rose had pulled a piece of candy and held it out for him. After the torture Dean was putting him through just to sit in the middle, she figured a piece of candy would cheer him right up. After all, when he had given it to her when they first got to officially meet, she had felt much better. Even as a demon or an angel, a piece of candy could make a whole difference.