Carry On

“So is that what all this was about? Jill got killed because of me?” she asked, and none of the men knew how to answer that question.

“I have a theory – but Jenna, there’s no way to know if I’m right or not. I think that maybe Jill’s death was an attempt to get you to, well, break. To lose what’s good about you and become angry, to give in to that side and cause you to lose yourself, if that makes sense.”

‘So that I wouldn’t be a guardian angel or whatever anymore and I wouldn’t be able to help?” she asked, and Sam nodded. Jenna was quiet then, leaning heavily on Dean. This was all far too much for her right now, except Dean’s words earlier were still ringing in her head. Something about what was going on ‘up there’.

“What did you mean when you said about something going on up there?” she asked Dean. He stiffened, wanting to keep her out of the mess that was Heaven right now.

“There’s a war going on in Heaven right now. God was apathetic to the start of the apocalypse and so now there is nothing but chaos and destruction,” Castiel answered for her, ignoring Dean’s killer glare. “You could be the key to the war and bringing peace and order back to Heaven.”

That was more than Jenna needed to know. She’d never been an overly religious person, but to hear that Heaven wasn’t all roses, puppy-dogs, and rainbows was too much. It was bad enough knowing that Hell and demons were real, but at least she’d had the idyllic idea of Heaven to hold onto then.

“Dear God,” she shook her head, and Dean’s strong grip on her tightened, helping to tie her down to the reality happening in her living room right now.

“Leave her out of that Castiel,” was his low warning, and Castiel merely shrugged.

“It is not up to you Dean; Jenna has to decide for herself,” was all he would say.

“I think I need to lay down,” Jenna mumbled. Dean nodded, letting his arm fall to his side as she stood up. “I’ll be in my room if you guys need me.”

“How the hell do you think you can walk in here and do this to her? Put the whole weight of the world on her shoulders like that? You miserable son of a bitch,” Dean snarled as soon as he heard the soft sound of her bedroom door closing. Castiel just sat and took the verbal lashing that Dean was giving him, not looking apologetic in the least.

“She needs to know, Dean. She’s a piece to the bigger puzzle, and without her our whole world – both of them – could fall apart. She has to make the choice for herself whether to help or to keep living her life the way it is. She’ll lose her angel status though, if she stays here; she no longer has anyone to guard. Jenna will become a mere human, and seeing as she nearly died in that fire my guess would be that sooner than later her time would come,” he replied, and Sam could see Dean’s frustration. It was like a death sentence either way – death by war or death because she refused to put herself up for slaughter in the war.

“It’s not fair to do this to her Castiel, she’s just a girl,” through gritted teeth Dean managed to hiss at the man who used to be his friend.

“And you were just a man, yet you’ve managed to help end the apocalypse Dean. She is more than a mere human; she probably has angelic powers and just doesn’t know how to use them, or doesn’t know she’s using them,” he countered, angering Dean even more.

“Just shut the hell up.” With that the living room fell into silence. Sam felt unbelievably uncomfortable; the tension between Dean and Castiel was nearly overbearing. There was a lot of underlying messages there that he knew he wouldn’t be able to even begin to decipher, and he also knew that only Dean and Castiel would be able to make it water under the bridge. But Dean wouldn’t be forgiving him any time soon, and both men knew it.

A blood-curdling scream suddenly pierced through their silence, startling all three men. Dean reacted first, grabbing his handgun and running toward the stairs. Sam was right behind him, the Colt in hand. The door to Jenna’s room was shut and locked, and Dean began rattling the doorknob, calling out to Jenna. There was a low voice in the room, and Jenna began to sob. That was when Dean began to get desperate, giving the door a shove with his shoulders, but it held fast.

“Jenna! We’re coming in!” Dean yelled before giving the door a kick that sent it flying. Jenna was up against the wall as if pinned there, but they couldn’t see her attacker. Her feet were about a foot off of the ground, tears streaming down her face and her fists balled tight. Dean rounded the corner and saw her old roommate – sister – standing in the corner of the room, her eyes completely black.

“Let her go, you bitch,” he growled, pointing his gun at her. The demon just grinned.

“Now, now; is that any way to talk to someone who could kill her as easily as snapping a finger?” she asked, and Dean faltered for a moment.

“It is if you don’t want to die before you get the chance,” he retorted, and she raised an eyebrow before chuckling.

“Simmer down, that’s no way to talk to a lady,” her voice was throaty and raspy, very different from Jenna’s clear, soft tone. Dean couldn’t help compare the two for a moment; Jenna was paler – Jasmine had a ruddier, darker complexion. But the dark, raven brown hair was the same, as were their general features.

“You’re no lady,” he shot back, edging toward Jenna. Sam lifted the colt, aiming at Jasmine’s chest, and then she noticed him.

“Now Sam, are you really going to kill me? I’m just a poor university student who wants a chat with my long-lost twin,” she pouted, and Dean saw the quiver in Sam’s grip.

“If that’s what you wanted what was wrong with knocking on the front door?” he demanded, and she just clicked her tongue.

“Now, would dear Jenna have let me in had I done that? With all of the nonsense you’ve been putting into her head? Really, Jenna; how can you believe all of their crap? Got a thing for green eyes now or what?” she asked, and Jenna refused to say a word, still struggling in an attempt to get loose.

“That’s what I thought,” the evil smirk on Jasmine’s lips was making Dean’s blood boil. Worse than that was the fact he saw no way of getting Jenna free right now.

“Why are you doing this?” Jenna finally asked, and Jasmine’s expression faltered for a moment as she saw the tears on Jenna’s cheeks.

“Why am I angry? Jenna, my whole life was a lie. They never told me who I was, who you were… how am I supposed to just go on with my life knowing that everything was bullshit? How are you not angry – your parents never told you who you were, who I was!” she hissed, stepping closer to Jenna. She caught Dean’s muscles tensing, and smirked to herself as she saw an opportunity for weakness in the hunter. As long as there was a threat of hurting Jenna she was pretty confident he wouldn’t do anything.

“Because my parents still loved me! Yeah, I would have liked to have known that you and Jill were my sisters, but it wouldn’t have changed the fact that my mom and dad are my parents!” she replied, and Jasmine let out a cruel laugh.

“You always were so naïve Jenna. Doesn’t it make you frustrated that they thought you couldn’t handle the truth? That you were too weak to know? Doesn’t it just make you want to hurt someone?” she asked, reaching toward her twin. Dean let out a growl, and she laughed.

“So instead you get yourself tangled up with one of the most emotionally damaged and messed up people out there. Kudos to you Jenna; you always did know how to pick ‘em,” she finished, and Dean saw Jenna’s eyes harden and she grit her teeth.

Jasmine turned her gaze to Dean then, and didn’t miss the hint of confusion behind his green eyes. She laughed, knowing that she was torturing the whole group of them with the current situation.

“What? You thought little miss innocent here never had a boyfriend before?” she asked, and watched him grind his teeth together ever so slightly. “Oh yeah, she picked a couple of real winners. One even gave her a black eye once. But naïve little Jenna just kept plugging along, as always. So seeing that you’re on the list shouldn’t be a surprise. Emotionally damaged, daddy issues… seems like a perfect fit,” she sounded smug, and Dean wanted to throttle her with his bare hands.

“Well I guess I’m not the only one here with daddy issues, isn’t that right Jasmine? Although I gotta admit, I never would have had the nerve to murder your own father,” he shot back, trying to appear just as smug and collected as she was. She faltered then, her brow furrowing, and Dean realized that he’d possibly just pissed her off. Pissed off could mean unpredictable, and right now he needed predictable. But distracted, that might work to his advantage.

“That asshole wasn’t my father! He didn’t even have the guts to tell me who my father was!” she screamed, advancing toward Dean. Sam edged closer to Jenna, but as soon as Jasmine noticed she tightened her hold on the girl, who cried out in pain.

“So murdering him was your go-to?”

“He lied to me my entire life; he let what life I had fall apart as if it didn’t matter. Because it didn’t; it never had. I was always just the fill-in for the life they couldn’t have. Then that bitch left us and replaced me with a couple hyper-active little monsters and never wanted to speak to me again. Not that it mattered; I’d love nothing less than to put and end to her too,” Jenna’s eyes widened, and Dean swallowed hard, wishing he could do something so that she didn’t have to see or hear any of this.

“That’s not going to change anything, killing all those people. Killing Jill didn’t change any of it,” he reminded her, and she let out a cold laugh.

“Killing Jill had nothing to do with that. That was all for her,” she turned her attention back to Jenna, who looked horrified at this point. Jasmine walked back over to her, and Dean resisted the urge to lunge at her and take his best shot at the demon.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, and Jasmine laughed.

“Your precious little Jill. God, you could hardly let her out of your sight. You cared about her so much… enough that I was sure when she was out of the way you’d lose all of that peace, and acceptance, and serenity… and give in,” she toyed, making Jenna glare at her.

“So Jill died for nothing? How could you do that to her! We were best friends!” she cried and yelped when Jasmine slapped her.

“We weren’t friends! We were sisters! And they kept that from us, they lied to us Jenna! Doesn’t that make you angry? Doesn’t it make you mad?” she demanded, but Jenna shook her head.

“No. My parents did what they thought was right,” she argued, and grimaced as the invisible grip the demon kept on her tightened, causing her pain and constricting her airways.

“Bullshit! You were always blind!” Jasmine screamed, turning away from her in a swift movement.

“The only thing I was blind about was you,” she whispered, and the brothers didn’t miss the pained look on the demons face. As cruel as she was, Dean was sure that somewhere deep down Jenna still meant something to her.

“Is being that angry really worth the only family you have left?” Dean asked, and she turned on him, sending him flying across the room where he hit the bookshelf and collapsed to the floor, books and shelves falling on him.

“Dean!” Jenna called out, her eyes wide with worry. Sam lunged at Jasmine then, and the force of him sent her to the floor, breaking her thought enough that Jenna crashed to the floor as well, and she took only an instant to collect herself before she was at Dean’s side, helping him up.

“I’m fine! Get the hell out of here,” he ushered her, giving her a shove toward the door, but she refused to leave.

“I can’t leave you both here,” she argued, getting him to his feet. He was hurting, she could tell; he favored his left side.