Angels Are Bad at Diagnosis
Author: rpsocsandcanonohmy
Title: Angels Are Bad at Diagnosis
Created for @jackklinebingo
Squares filled: Jack & Castiel
Warnings: Blood, Sickness
Additional tags: Canon divergence, Lying, Faking Wellness, Worried Castiel
A/N: This was also written for Whumptober 2021 and posted here for @whumptober-archive. Prompt filled: Day 8- “Definitely just a cold.”
Castiel frowned when he saw that Jack’s bedroom door was closed. He knew it wasn’t uncommon for doors to be closed in the bunker, especially with all the new guests running around. But usually Jack never closed his door unless he was sleeping and it wasn’t his usual sleeping time. Also, they were meant to be leaving on a hunt soon. Normally, Jack was already packed up and bouncing on his heels near the Bunker door while he waited for Castiel to catch up.
“Jack?” he called, knocking on the door. “It’s almost time to go. Are you ready?” There was some shuffling and the door opened to reveal Jack. He smiled weakly and straightened his suspiciously damp-looking shirt.
“Hey…. Is it time to go already? I’m not packed yet….”
Castiel peeked past him and saw that Jack didn’t even have his duffle bag out yet. “We can leave whenever you’re ready but Madison and her partner are ready to go and I thought it’d be nice if we left together since we’re going in similar directions.”
“Oh, okay. Well, just give me a few minutes.” Jack started closing the door again and he put out a hand to stop him.
“Jack, are you feeling well?”
“Hm? I’m fine. Just…training a lot. With Bobby. I’m fine.”
Castiel didn’t need angelic powers to know he was lying. Jack rarely lied. He hated breaking rules or doing anything that would be considered “wrong” or “bad” or “sinful”. It was part of his desire to separate himself from his unfortunate heritage. “Bobby has been out of town with Mary for two weeks now.”
Jack’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Yeah, I know, but he left me exercises and things to do while he was gone.”
“Then I’ll need to speak to him about your training. He might be pushing you outside of your abilities….”
“No!” Jack shook his head and gently pushed him back. “I’m good. I’m just…working extra hard. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to- to-” A coughing fit interrupted his explanation.
Castiel reached a hand out to steady him as the coughs wracked his body. “Jack, are you sure you’re alright? If you’re not feeling well, I can just pass this hunt along and we can stay he-”
“No!” Jack wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly stood to his full height. “I’m good, honest. It’s probably just a cold or something.”
“Having a cold counts as being sick. You should stay here until you’re feeling at your best. Hunting is hard enough as it is; you don’t need to worry about sickness on top of that. Not to mention the small but still real possibility that this is something more serious than a cold and hunting would just make your condition worse.”
“It’s nothing,” Jack insisted, holding the cupped hand he’d been coughing into close to his chest. “Just a cold. I’ll just get packed real quick and then we can go.”
“Jack-” Castiel paused when the door slammed in his face. He knocked again but there was no response. He considered leaving it alone and just waiting for Jack to meet him later. After all, Jack was human now and he was still adjusting. It made sense that every now and then he experienced an “off day” that caused him to act slightly out of character. But…there was something bugging him. Jack was his son and he knew him very well; this was way more “off” than would be expected on an “off day”.
So, he did what any reasonable parent would do (according to daytime television anyway) and entered Jack’s room without permission. In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have done that when Jack was still in there, but then he probably wouldn’t have seen the extent of Jack’s “cold”. Castiel knew of every disease that plagued humanity over the centuries and he knew that there was not a cold or cold-like disease that caused its victims to cough up blood.
Jack yelped and whirled around, a few stray drops of blood landing on his shirt instead of in the sink. “Cas…I- I can expl-”
“Sit down, Jack.” He pushed his son back onto the mattress and tucked him in. “You’re going to rest now. While you do that, I’m going to alert Sam and Dean of your condition. Hopefully, they’ll have a solution.”
“Okay,” Jack mumbled. He rolled over on his side as another coughing fit wracked his body.
“I’ll get you some water,” Castiel said. “Just rest. We’ll figure this out.”
Jack made a noncommittal sound as Castiel left. Hopefully, this could be sorted out soon. Sam and Dean would know what to do; that much he was sure of.
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