Carry On

“Sam… is that?”

“Castiel?” Sam asked, shock evident in his voice. Dean nodded, Sam’s answer confirming what he’d thought. So Jenna hopefully was not in harm’s way, at least not for now.

“Thank God,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around Dean as soon as he was within reach. He tightly hugged her back before she hugged Sam as well.

“He’s standing over there – he’s still watching me, I can feel it,” she whispered, and Dean nodded.

“We know who that is… what I don’t know is what the hell he’s doing here,” he growled, his voice low and raspy. Jenna turned just enough that she could watch the man in the trench coat out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t feel any more comfortable that Dean knew him.

“Can we go… please?” she asked, and both brothers nodded before Dean grabbed her bag for her and they began ushering her to the car. Just as Dean had feared, Castiel was beside the Impala waiting for them. Jill froze, nearly throwing Dean off balance when she stopped so suddenly.

“We won’t let anything happen to you, we promise,” he whispered, and she nodded, following behind very slowly.

“Dean, Sam. It’s been a long time,” Castiel greeted them, his low, gravelly voice as intimidating to Jenna as if he’d been wearing a ski mask and holding a gun to her head. Beneath her fear was some sort of recognition that she couldn’t put her finger on, but it frightened her even more.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dean was gruff with him, and Sam knew that Dean might never forgive Castiel for what all had happened. If he had, their greeting would have been much different.

“It’s about her,” he nodded in Jenna’s direction, and she shrunk further behind the two brothers.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Dean growled at him. Castiel held up his hands as if in surrender.

“I do, but that is for a later time. Right now her safety is what’s important,” he said, causing the brothers to look to each other for a moment. “You are not safe here, we need to protect you.”

“Sam and Dean are doing a great job, thanks,” she mumbled, but Castiel sighed.

“You don’t understand. This is bigger than you may think,” he told her. Suddenly Dean turned to him, realization on his face.

“You are not dragging her into whatever kind of hellish onslaught is going on up there,” he insisted, before wrapping an arm around Jenna and all but dragging her to the other side of the Impala and opening the back door for her. She got in, and Dean got in the driver’s seat, slamming the door and starting the car. Sam hardly got in and had his door shut when Dean peeled away from the curb, leaving Castiel standing there.

“Dean, Sam… who is that?” she asked, but Dean was silent. Sam sighed before turning slightly so he could see her.

“That’s Castiel, he’s… well was anyway – I don’t really know anymore – an angel,” he replied, and Jenna’s eyes widened. Had she really just met an angel? He was a lot… scruffier than she’d anticipated an angel looking.

“An angel? I thought they were supposed to look a little more…”

“Otherworldly?” Sam offered, and she nodded. Dean refused to say anything the drive back, and swore when they pulled up to her house and Castiel was there. Jenna wouldn’t admit it to Dean, but she was mildly curious about him – because if there were angels that meant there must be a Heaven.

“What did I tell you? You aren’t making her a part of that,” Dean repeated, and Castiel shook his head.

“That’s not why I’m here, Dean. She could be the key to righting the world; both yours and ours. That’s why I’m here to help protect her,” he replied, leaving all three of them astounded.

“I could be… what? Dean what’s he talking about?” When he didn’t reply she turned to Sam, who seemed to be more apt with actually answering her questions. “Sam?”

“Let’s go inside,” he suggested, and she nodded, following the three men in. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, and was glad when Dean sat beside her. She felt safer with him around. Something about this man, Castiel, seemed to really get on his nerves, and she could tell that Dean was on edge because of his appearance.

“Jenna, we did some digging and… well…” Sam started, and she waited anxiously for him to finish.

“You’re a guardian angel, Jenna,” Dean quietly told her. She was quiet for a moment, before she began to laugh.

“Me? A guardian angel? You guys are hilarious,” she insisted, but her laughter soon died down when their expressions stayed solemn.

“You guys have to be kidding; there’s no way I’m an angel of any kind,” she shook her head, but Dean shrugged.

“Look at it this way Jenna – no normal person is able to protect their little brother or sister the way you were able to. Just knowing when they were in trouble… always able to get there just in time… that’s not exactly a human response. I mean, I’ve saved Sam’s ass a lot, but I’ve never been able to do the things you have,” he explained, but again she shook her head.

“Jenna, where did you get that necklace?” Sam asked, and immediately her hand went to the cross pendant she wore around her neck. Castiel saw it but didn’t say anything, content to let the brothers explain.

“I… I think my mom gave it to me – I’ve had it for as long as I can remember,” she replied, and Sam nodded.

“We talked to your mom, Jenna. I know you didn’t want to get your parents involved, but I’d kind of had a hunch about this and needed to find out the truth, for you,” Sam said, and she nodded. He reached over and pulled out a file folder from his pile of papers and books before handing it over to her. She couldn’t make herself reach for it, so instead Dean did, and opened it.

“What…?” she asked, shaking with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. Sam knew her birth certificate was the first thing in the folder.

“You were adopted, Jenna. You always said how the three of you felt like sisters, right?” she nodded, unable to form words.

“It’s because you were,” Dean finished, his voice hoarse. He couldn’t imagine having grown up and not known Sam was his brother, especially not finding out after he’d lost him.

“What?”

“Your parents – Mr. and Mrs. Munn – wanted to take all three of you in, but knew that they couldn’t afford to support all three of you Jenna. They’d babysat you a lot as a baby; Jasmine was sick a lot and with Jill your parents had their hands full, so you spent a lot of time there,”

“I don’t understand…”

“The fire you remember wasn’t the completely the one with your parents – your memories of it are mixed the one that killed your real mom and your step-dad,” Dean quietly explained, and the tears began to fall. “You carried Jill out of the burning house – those burns are from the fire, and they said they have no clue how you managed to survive,”

“It’s because you were still needed here, Jenna. That’s why you were protected and able to get yourself and your sister out of that fire,” Castiel explained, and Jenna leaned heavily into Dean, her mind running into overdrive trying to make sense of all of this.

“But then why was she killed? Why couldn’t I do anything to save her?” she demanded, and Castiel sighed.

“Because we didn’t anticipate Jasmine,” he quietly replied, and she broke down then. She couldn’t bear the thought of her other best friend being capable of such a horrible thing, let alone having been her sister and capable of such a thing.

“You and Jasmine always had a connection, right? You know, thinking the same thing, also uncanny sense of where each other are?” Dean stayed quiet as Sam did all the talking. He wanted to comfort Jenna, try and ease her through them completely tearing up the life she’d known.

“Our birthdays being the same day wasn’t just coincidence then,” she whispered, and Sam nodded. “We’re twins, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,”

“S-so then, the demon looking like her…”

“She’s like a mirror of you – everything is opposite,” Sam explained, pulling out a piece of paper he’d printed out at the library. “The best way I can explain it would be like Kiraman Katibin – the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.”

“But that means Jasmine isn’t possessed… right?” she asked, and as much as Sam hated it he nodded, and a sob ripped loose from her chest.

“Jenna, you might be the key to something much bigger than is going on here. And while we don’t know for sure, I am willing to bet that is why this demon is after you. You could be part of locking the gates of Hell permanently, and they don’t want to take the chance. When her parents told her she snapped, and let the demon win over – effectively fulfilling your destinies as opposing sides,” Castiel said, his voice monotonous.

“But I’m just a normal person! There’s no way that I can do something like that. Hell I couldn’t even keep my little sister safe,” she insisted, and Dean put his arm around her shoulders.

“You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Jenna,” he pushed, but she shook her head.

“There’s just no way…”

“It’s true. What does your pendant say, Jenna?” Sam asked, and she flipped it over, revealing the Latin inscription to them.

“Angele Dei,” she whispered.

“Angel of God,” Sam translated, his voice also whisper soft. She let the pendant drop back against her chest, settling beside the one Dean had given her for protection.

“I just don’t understand… why me?” she asked, and Castiel shrugged.

“That I have no way of knowing. But it is you, so we need to keep you safe,” was his response, and Dean nodded.