A/N: I couldn't think of a better title for this, lol. So here, have a rescue!fic to help tide us over until Cas comes back. But in the meantime, I have high hopes for the Wayward Sisters episodes.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Thanks to 29Pieces for beta reading!

"Operation Rescue the Winchester Angel"

They were coming up with zilch on Jack. Again. The kid had friggin' dropped off the map, just like Kelly had when she'd been pregnant with him. Dean was getting frustrated, for many reasons.

He pulled out his phone and punched his #2 speed dial before pressing the cell to his ear angrily. The other line rang three times before picking up.

"Hello, Dean."

"Cas, where the hell are you?"

"I'm still looking into some interesting leads."

Dean rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Okay, I thought you learned not to pull this whole incommunicado crap anymore. It's been over a week."

"I'm sorry."

Dean frowned. Something was…off. The words were typical, but there was something missing from the tone, that layer of genuine remorse. This voice was too…composed. Like it was the last time they'd spoken after the demon ambush at the bar, which Cas had been MIA at.

"Yeah, well," Dean continued, spontaneously following the prompting in his gut. "It's just that you promised Sam you'd help him test that demon killing grenade he's been working on."

His brother jerked his head up from the table with an incredulous look.

"I think finding Jack is more important right now," Cas replied, still without that extra inflection of annoyance Dean would have expected. Had it been the right answer.

Dean's expression turned steely. "Fine. Whatever. Just check in more often, alright?"

"I will call you if I find anything."

The line disconnected.

Dean spun toward Sam. "Track Cas's phone."

Sam quirked a brow at him. "Dean, what was that? We don't have demon killing grenades."

"I don't think that was Cas. Pull up his phone's location."

Sam gaped at him dubiously for a moment before giving him a shrug and clacking away at his laptop to pull up the GPS tracker. "Um, looks like he's in Massachusetts." He squinted and peered closer at the screen. "Wait, why does that address look familiar?"

Dean shook his head, unable to place it. "Any reports of strange stuff in the area to suggest Jack is around there?"

Sam didn't pull up a news page, however, but continued studying the map. He suddenly straightened. "That's Crowley's old lair."

"What?"

"The British Men of Letters had a file on it," Sam explained. "And surveillance, which was how they knew Lucifer had escaped from there." His brow furrowed in confusion. "But why would Cas be there? Crowley's dead."

Dread settled in Dean's stomach like lead. "Asmodeus."

Sam's frown deepened. "What about him?"

"He's basically the new King of Hell, right? So he took over Crowley's place, and now he has Cas."

Sam held a hand up. "Whoa, we don't know he has Cas. I mean, you just talked to him."

"And I told you, something was off. That wasn't Cas. And we know Asmodeus can shapeshift."

Dammit. The demons still waiting at the bar after Cas had supposedly fled. Dean should have seen it then, but Ketch had been a pretty major distraction at the time. Dean's gut had been right about him, and he was getting the same feeling now. God, he just hoped the demonic bastard hadn't killed Cas and just taken his phone…

"Okay, but wait," Sam pressed, standing up. "Why would Asmodeus impersonate Cas?"

"He wants Jack. And if we find the kid first…" Dean swallowed. No, Cas had to still be alive. "He'll have leverage."

A muscle in Sam's jaw ticked. "So what do we do?"

"What do you mean 'what do we do'? We go get Cas."

"Dean." Sam gave him a pleading look. "He's a Prince of Hell. We can't get Cas back on our own. We- we're gonna need help." He hesitated. "We're gonna need Jack's help."

"We can't let Jack get anywhere near Asmodeus. Plus we don't even know how to find him," Dean argued. "At least we know where Cas is now. And we took out Ramiel on our own just fine."

Sam's brows shot upward. "Cas almost died then. And the only way we were able to kill Ramiel was with the Lance of Michael, which we don't have anymore." He shook his head. "Best case scenario, we get caught and Asmodeus knows his charade is up, he kicks us back out on the street to find Jack for him while he still keeps Cas. Or worse, he just kills us, and maybe tries to use Cas as bait for Jack. Face it, Dean, we need a better plan."

His stomach cramped, because he knew Sam was right. "Alright," he grudgingly agreed. "We keep looking for Jack."

It took another week and a crazy heist before they came up with a real lead on how to locate an AWOL nephilim. The spell had better be legit, or Dean was going to start punching some walls. They'd just gotten Cas back from the dead, for crying out loud. Dean knew he shouldn't have let Cas go alone to talk to the angels. Although, granted, they weren't the ones who'd kidnapped him. But still.

He and Sam performed the spell, which then pointed them to Illinois. So they hit the road again, hoping Jack wouldn't flit off to somewhere else before they could get to him. But when they reached a ranch out in the middle of nowhere, they found him. In a cowboy hat, no less.

According to the ranch hand they talked to, Jack was a recent hire who got along better with horses than he did people. He was a "weird kid" who asked a lot of questions about cowboys when he did interact with the other hands, but he did his work and the horses seemed to take to him. The guy directed the Winchesters to one of the paddocks where Jack was out with an appaloosa, and hadn't noticed their approach until they were at the fence line. His eyes widened and he tensed as though to flee.

"Jack, wait, please!" Sam pleaded.

"Cas is in trouble," Dean blurted.

Jack froze, brows pinching together. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

Dean slipped through the slats in the fence and walked closer so he wouldn't have to shout. Jack kept eyeing him warily, and Dean regretted how he'd treated the kid those first few weeks they'd taken him back to the bunker.

"You remember that demon that shapeshifted into Donatello?"

Jack nodded slowly. "Yes. He wanted me to release some imprisoned warriors from the Pit."

Yeah, that had been a close call.

"We think he has Cas."

Jack's frown deepened as though unsure whether to believe him or not.

Sam came up beside Dean. "Please, Jack. We need your help. I know you care about Cas."

"But…you said you think the demon has Castiel. You're not sure."

"I'm sure," Dean said. "I just don't have hard proof. The past few times I talked to Cas on the phone, he sounded off. And we tracked his phone's location to a known demon lair in Massachusetts."

"Asmodeus is a Prince of Hell," Sam picked up. "We can't take him on by ourselves. But if you're with us, we can get in and get Cas out." He grimaced in what Dean knew was a silent, "Hopefully."

Jack lowered his eyes to the ground in deep thought for several long moments. "Did Asmodeus take Castiel because of me?" he asked quietly.

"No," Dean immediately responded. He sighed. "Honestly, I don't think Evil Colonel Sanders knows you two are close. He knows me and Sam are close with Cas, and he knows that you were with us. If I was him, I'd be banking on a trade down the line. But that is not gonna happen," Dean added fervently. "We need to get Cas back, but we'll also keep you safe."

Which sounded like a ridiculous oxymoron, but whatever.

Jack's mouth was pressed into a thin line, and he didn't speak again for another long minute. "If you know where he is," he began. "Then all I need to do is get Asmodeus away from there, and you can go in and get Castiel."

Dean quirked a brow. "Uh, no, we can storm the place together."

Jack's expression turned pained, and he shook his head. "No. No, I don't want to hurt any of you. I can't risk using my powers around you. Or Castiel." He drew his shoulders back. "I haven't been using my powers. I've been staying hidden. I can go somewhere isolated. Use them to somehow draw attention. And when Asmodeus shows, I will keep him distracted long enough for you to rescue Castiel."

"Jack, no," Sam pressed. "We can't let you endanger yourself like that. I know you've fended off Asmodeus before, but he's powerful, and obviously not to be underestimated."

"I won't give in to him," Jack promised. "He's evil, and wants me to be evil, too." His gaze drifted to the horse and he lifted a hand to rub its muzzle as his voice lowered. "I don't want to be evil."

"You're not," Dean said adamantly. "Okay? We all know that. You don't have to do anything alone."

Jack slowly raised his eyes to meet theirs. "But I'm going to." He reached up to take off the cowboy hat, giving it a remorseful look as though setting it aside symbolized so much more. He then took a step toward them. "Where do we have to go?"

Castiel sat on the floor, slumped against the wall of his cell, shivering. His clothes were tattered and stained with blood in various stages of drying. He was mildly disappointed; he'd liked the new coat. Maybe if he ever got out of here, he could fix it. At the moment, though, his grace was sluggishly attempting to heal his wounds, but it was hampered by the sigils encasing his prison. Asmodeus's interrogation methods were as thorough as any demon's—yet not quite as bad as the ones Castiel had endured at the hands of his angelic brethren in the past. That gave his heart a pang.

Yet it meant he didn't have to worry about breaking. Castiel would never give Asmodeus information on the Winchesters. Lucifer, on the other hand… Castiel could hear the Devil's moans that morphed into garbled chuckles every time he shifted in the cell next door. Lucifer had also probably endured worse than this, though with his grace currently weakened as it was, he was feeling it that much more. Castiel took some satisfaction in that knowledge. And in the fact that Lucifer was too proud to give Asmodeus anything under torture, even intel on Sam and Dean.

"Hey, Castiel," the archangel wheezed. "You still with me over there?"

"I'm not 'with you' at all," he grumbled in response.

"Oh come on. We're all- each other- has- right now." Lucifer let out a hacking cough that went on for several seconds.

Castiel was too tired to muster much of a retort. "Wrong," he said, wincing as his wounds pulled. "I have more. You have nothing."

Lucifer scoffed. "The Winchesters don't even know you're here. Asmodeus took your phone, you know. He's gonna play the 'I'm Castiel' card for months. Hah! Just like I did."

Castiel closed his eyes and pressed his cheek into the stone. Maybe. Or maybe not. Lucifer had the advantage of being in Castiel's head when he'd pretended to be him. Asmodeus didn't. Not that it would do any good if Sam and Dean did find out he was here.

Castiel grimaced as his shudders became more persistent, the cold floor and wall seeping into him like glacial sleet. He hoped Jack was okay. He hoped he avoided the angels that wanted to enslave him. He hoped Dean wasn't going out of his mind with worry at Castiel's absence, and he regretted the unfortunate domino of events that had led him to this predicament. But at the same time, he was grateful he hadn't let Dean come with him. Then he would likely be trapped here, too.

He hoped Dean wasn't angry with him for leaving and then disappearing. Castiel had resolved not to do that anymore; he had resolved to be better about communicating with the Winchesters, about working as a team—as family.

And he hoped he got the chance to apologize again.

Dean checked one of his guns for the fifth time as he sat in the car, parked down the block from the abandoned insane asylum where Cas's phone was still transmitting from. He did not like this plan, but Jack had refused to budge, and this was the only way they were going to get a chance at getting Cas.

His phone was sitting on the dash, speaker on, though no sound was coming through except muffled wind. Jack was on the other end, out in some field several counties over, doing something to draw attention to himself, and as soon as Asmodeus showed up, that would be the signal for Dean and Sam to storm the keep.

"Don't do anything stupid," Dean said out loud, knowing Jack would hear him. They were going to keep the call going the entire time so the Winchesters could let the kid know once they'd gotten Cas out and he could run.

Jack didn't reply. Jeez, did he take after Cas.

The sound of wind died down, and then there was silence. Until Jack's voice came over the line,

"You're…Asmodeus."

Dean grabbed his phone and hit mute on his end. "That's our cue."

He and Sam exited the car and marched down the street toward the asylum. They both had angel blades and the demon killing knife, but were going in with guns blazing first. With one automatic in each hand, Dean simply kicked the door down before barging in, Sam right behind him.

Two demons spun around, and Dean popped a bullet in each of them without hesitation. The wounds sparked orange before they went down, paralyzed by the devil's traps engraved on the lead. More demons came running, and Sam shot those.

Side by side, Dean and his brother stormed through the building, mowing down everything that moved. He emptied one magazine and stowed that gun in his waistband, drawing his angel blade to replace it. They made it to a dingy room lit with dozens of candles and a throne against the back wall. Dean felt a distant pang of regret that the ambiance had Crowley written all over it—and he missed that son-of-a-bitch as the King of Hell.

Another demon ran in from a back corridor, only to immediately get gunned down by Sam before his eyes could even flick black. Dean marched over and crouched down next to the demon as he clutched at his stomach, gasping.

"Where's the angel?"

"What angel?" he seethed.

"Dean." Sam grabbed a cell phone from a drink table and held it up.

Dean fisted his hand in the demon's hair and yanked his head back, pressing the blade to his throat. "You know which one."

When the demon still refused to talk, Sam strode over and planted his boot over the gunshot wound. The demon let out a garbled cry, and jerked his head toward the passage he'd come out from. Dean exchanged a look with his brother, and then plunged the angel blade into the demon's heart. Orange lightning spritzed throughout his body before he fell limp.

Dean stood swiftly, gun raised at the ready again, and nodded to Sam. Together, they ventured down the hallway. No more demons came charging at them, and Dean hoped it was because they'd taken care of all the ones in the place.

He and Sam rounded a corner and slowed at the sight of prison cells built into the passage.

"Cas?" Dean called cautiously.

There was silence for a moment, and then a weak and disbelieving, "Dean?"

He surged forward, pulling up short in front of one of the cells, because inside was Cas, slumped in the corner and, shit, covered in blood.

Sam snatched a ring of keys hanging on the wall and quickly unlocked the cell.

Cas gaped at them owlishly. "How did you find me?"

"Modern technology," Dean replied as he hurried inside and bent down to grip Cas's arm. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

"Asmodeus," Cas gasped fearfully.

"Is currently out of the building," Dean said. "But we still need to hurry." He hauled Cas's arm over his shoulder and hefted the angel to his feet. Cas stumbled against him.

"Hey, fellas, what about me?"

Dean froze at the familiar voice. No, that was impossible…

Sam's eyes widened in shared horror, and he staggered over to the next cell. "No," he breathed. "It can't be."

Dean hobbled over with Cas to see for himself. Sure enough, the Devil was in the next cage, as beaten up and bloodied as Cas.

"But it is," Lucifer replied gleefully, only to double over in a coughing fit. "Agh, hurry up and open my door. I don't wanna be around when Asmodeus gets back."

"Like hell," Dean snarled. He shot a flabbergasted look at Cas for an explanation, even though there really wasn't time for one.

"Hey," Lucifer snapped. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Tell them, Castiel. We've got bigger fish to fry."

Cas's expression was pinched, but he didn't say anything.

Lucifer stumbled over to the bars, practically falling against them. Sam jerked back.

"Oh, come on!" Lucifer whined.

"Sam," Dean said, "let's get out of here."

"Your mother's still alive!" Lucifer shouted.

Dean went rigid. "You're lying."

Lucifer bunched his shoulders up. "Mm, nope. She is, however, still stuck in Apocalypto world with Michael. Who is planning to invade this world. So come on, boys, you need me if we're going to stop it."

Sam spun back toward Dean, hope igniting in his eyes.

"Sammy," Dean warned. Even if…even if by some small miracle Lucifer was telling the truth, that Mom wasn't dead…they still couldn't trust him. And they were running out of time here. Dean shot his brother a pleading look.

Sam wavered.

"You're…Asmodeus," Jack said warily, eyeing the man in the white suit that had appeared out of nowhere ten feet away from him. "How did you find me?"

The demon cocked his head at him. "Come now, boy, you didn't really think that little display of power just now would go unnoticed, did you?"

Jack ducked his head. "I was…testing myself," he admitted. And he had been. The point had been to draw attention, but he'd also wanted to see how much energy he could wield without losing control. At least all the way out here, he didn't run the risk of accidentally hurting someone.

"Ah, yes," Asmodeus mused. "Your powers are growing. Feels good, doesn't it?"

Jack's jaw tightened. No, it didn't feel good. This…thing, inside him felt like something separate, something that wasn't truly him, but was trying to take over.

"You're frightened of it, aren't you?" the demon said. "You don't have to be. You were born for great things, Jack. Things I can help you achieve."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You lied to me. Tricked me. Why should I trust you?"

"And I apologize for that," Asmodeus drawled. "I had to be sure of who you were."

Jack frowned. That wasn't an explanation. But then, he'd been taught that demons lied.

Asmodeus took a step forward, and Jack shot a hand partway up to ward him off. He could feel his power flaring, the heat in his eyes as it burned to life. The demon stopped.

"I won't hurt you, Jack. Don't you understand how important you are?"

He understood people wanted to use him, use his powers. Powers he didn't have control of in the first place. He wanted to leave this place, get away from the demon and go as far away as he could, but he had to keep Asmodeus here as a distraction until he knew Sam and Dean had rescued Castiel.

Jack angled a considering look at the demon. "You're not afraid of me?"

Asmodeus smiled, but the effect was off-putting. It wasn't like how other people had sometimes smiled at him. "The Winchesters are afraid of you, aren't they? That's because they don't understand you. Because you're different. I understand you."

"I'm not like you," he automatically bit out.

Asmodeus was silent for a few beats, mouth pursed in a considering moue. Then, carefully, he said, "I have someone I think you'd like to meet." He paused. "Your father?"

Jack went rigid. So the demon did have Castiel, and Dean was wrong, it was because of him.

Asmodeus's face cracked into a pleased grin. "That's right. Lucifer popped back into this world not too long ago. Wouldn't you like to see him?"

Jack's brows knitted together. Wait, what? His father…Lucifer? But, he was stuck in that other world. How could he be back? And- and that was a bad thing. Lucifer was evil.

But…but Jack came from him. He'd been so lost lately, what if…what if the answers he was looking for were in that very same dark place he didn't want to go?

Asmodeus held out his hand. "Just come with me, and we can—"

The demon cut off, eyes narrowing as he canted his head, gaze sliding to the side in concentration. His eyes flashed yellow as he snapped his attention back to Jack. And then he vanished.

Jack's heart jolted. Had Asmodeus realized he'd been tricked? Jack hadn't heard Dean come back on the phone to tell him they'd all gotten out. If they were still there and Asmodeus found them…

Jack flapped his wings and leaped, pulse racing as he sought out the location on the map Sam had shown him. He landed in a grungy chamber with candles along the walls. Asmodeus was standing in the doorway facing him, expression livid, and he heard a small gasp from behind.

"Jack?" Castiel's breathless voice uttered in disbelief.

Jack glanced over his shoulder to find Sam and Dean supporting Castiel between them, their eyes wide and panicked as they flicked between Jack and Asmodeus, who had apparently intercepted them.

Jack whirled back toward the demon, eyes flaring. "Stay back," he warned, but even as his power stirred, he instinctively tried to suppress it, unwilling to risk hurting the people behind him.

Asmodeus stared him down. "You don't belong with them," he said, nodding over Jack's shoulder. "And if you stay, I will let them go."

"Jack, no," Castiel gasped. "Just run."

Jack's throat constricted, and he turned his head slightly toward them. "Is it true? Is Lucifer here?"

He saw the answer in the horror that flashed in their eyes.

"Yes," Castiel admitted roughly. "But, Jack, he's—" He cut off with a grunt of pain as his knees buckled. Dean and Sam quickly adjusted their hold to keep him upright.

Jack's mind was awhirl with thoughts and emotions he didn't understand. Everything was so confusing and he felt like his skull was going to implode.

"That's right, Jack," Asmodeus crooned. "Stay and meet your father. Embrace what you are."

"Jack," Sam sputtered. "Don't."

He stood there, suspended by indecision and the endless question of 'what if?'

But deep down he knew the answer. Had always known it.

Jack released the mental stopper on his power and let it flow, amber light flaring through the room as his eyes burned. "It doesn't matter what I am, only who I'm trying to be."

The air rippled as his power exuded outward. Asmodeus's eyes hardened darkly, and his own pupils flashed yellow as more power filled the room.

Jack lifted his chin. "And I have the father I came for."

With that, he spun around and grabbed Sam and Dean, with Castiel between them, and gave a massive flap of his wings to carry them all away.

The impact from landing jolted up through Dean's knees, upsetting his balance. Sam staggered against a table. And since Cas was barely able to keep his feet as it was, the angel instantly started pitching toward the floor. Dean held tight, sinking down with him and at least easing the fall to the concrete.

He looked around at the familiar walls of the bunker and the war room they'd landed in. Jack was standing in front of them, head down and face pinched with that perpetual furrow he always had. Dean had a brief flare of irritation that his Baby had been left in Massachusetts, but he'd get her back later. Right now, they'd gotten their most important cargo back home.

"Cas, hey, buddy, you alright?" Dean prodded.

Cas nodded, albeit shakily, and Dean noted he wasn't trying to get up off the floor or shrug off Dean's support. "Jack, are you okay?" Cas asked.

"I am…not hurt," Jack said slowly.

Cas shook his head in astonishment. "How did you know where we were?"

"He was in on the plan to rescue you," Dean explained.

"I was the distraction for Asmoedus," Jack put in.

Cas's brows shot upward. "What?" he exclaimed in alarm, shooting Dean and Sam accusatory glares.

"Relax, it worked," Dean said with a weary sigh. It'd been a rough couple of weeks.

"How could you use him as bait?" Cas snapped.

"Well, first off, we didn't. It was his idea. He gets his stubbornness from you, by the way," Dean added pointedly. "And second of all, we didn't have a lot of options for getting you out of there."

Cas let out a huff of frustration, but thankfully didn't try to lecture them more. "I don't understand," he said. "How did you know I'd been captured?"

Dean snorted. "Asmodeus wasn't as good an impersonator as he thought. But what the hell, man? You were supposed to go talk to the angels, and you end up cellmates with Lucifer by the new King of Hell?"

"I believe you would call it a series of unfortunate events," Cas grumbled.

Dean shook his head. He was still having a hard time believing it. After everything they'd been through to banish the Devil from ever threatening them again, Lucifer was back. De-powered, apparently, but that wasn't good enough. And supposedly he wasn't even the biggest threat anymore.

Dean was glad they'd left him in that cell to rot, though. Even if he was telling the truth about Mom and Michael from the bizarro world, they'd learned after the Darkness that they didn't need him. Especially not now. No, they'd figure out a way to save Mom and protect their world on their own. Team Free Will.

2.0

Dean looked up at Jack. "You did good."

Jack, however, was gazing down at Cas morosely. "The demons hurt you."

Cas tried to sit up straighter; Dean had to grip his arm to help. "I've had worse."

Jack slowly lowered himself to the floor, eyes pained. Wordlessly, he reached a hand out, and his palm started to glow. Dean reflexively went on guard, but before anyone could say anything, golden light spilled forth over Cas in near blinding intensity. Dean felt Cas sag in his arms as the tension of painfully holding himself up leeched out.

When Jack pulled his arm back and the light receded, all the blood was gone and even the tears in Cas's clothes had vanished. Cas's eyelids fluttered as he inhaled sharply, and he turned his gaze up at Jack in wonder.

Dean exchanged a startled look with Sam as Cas started to sit up all the way on his own. Dean supposed it made sense Jack would have the ability to heal as a half-angel; he'd just never shown any indication he could before.

Jack was also staring in stupefaction. "Did I…?"

Sam knelt down next to all of them, face cracking into a smile as he looked Cas over. "Yeah, you did. You healed him."

"Thank you, Jack," Cas said, mouth also quirking in a small, proud smile.

Jack looked down to stare at his hands. "That's the first time I…did something good."

"No, it's not," Sam countered. "But, maybe it's the first time your powers haven't come from a place of destruction. So you see, you do have good in you. And I know you left because you thought it was safer for us without you around," Sam rambled on. "But even though you don't have full control of all your powers yet, we're still stronger together. You just proved that."

Jack's expression shifted with uncertainty.

"Jack," Cas jumped in desperately. "I know that feeling of wanting to run because you're afraid you're going to hurt the ones you love. But Sam's right; staying with them has always given me more strength than being apart."

"We've all been there," Dean added. "We've all gone dark side and hurt each other. The difference here is you're trying not to. That counts for something. It counts for everything."

Jack continued to remain silent for several long moments. "I've…been doing better," he finally said softly. "And…I've missed you all."

"Please don't leave, again, Jack," Cas pleaded.

Jack slowly nodded. "Can I still visit the horses?" he asked.

Cas quirked a brow. "Horses?"

Dean barked out a chuckle. "Yeah, sure thing." He paused. "You just can't bring one home to the bunker, okay?"

Jack tilted his head at him in confusion. "This wouldn't be a good place for a horse to live."

Dean rolled his eyes and finally pushed himself up off the floor. He reached down to offer Cas a hand up as everyone followed his lead.

Sam cleared his throat softly. "Jack…about Lucifer…"

"He's not my father," Jack interrupted, expression softening as he looked at Cas, then at Dean and Sam. "He's not my family."

Dean mentally shook his head at himself. A few weeks ago he'd been ready to kill this kid. And yeah, his powers were something to keep an eye on. But Dean could see now that Cas and Sam were right—Jack just needed a family that would watch out for him, people to keep him on the right track.

And, oddly enough, Dean didn't have a problem being that family.