hey what if jack got Really mad at castiel using him as an excuse to stick around. it feels SIMILAR but not quite the same as sam using him to open up a portal. like legitimately i think jack would feel a bit gutted at the idea that someone who made him feel safe enough that he promised cas anything so he'd stick around, only cared about him (AT FIRST. I Can't Stress This Enough.) because it gave cas an excuse to stay on earth. the whole "jack made us a family but he's gone now"
Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I love this view that Cas’s initial reaction to Jack… was tangled up w/ his own identity crisis.
The fodder for potential family baggage is just… Nnnngh!!!!
(Aside// love the idea of this fight: that Jack himself wasn’t what made Cas stay: it was what Jack signified at the time.)
In 12x19, it reads to me like Jack’s existence validated Castiel’s faith in something bigger than himself, which, after so much doubt/crisis/vulnerability, made him feel strong again.
To Cas, Jack became a symbol of the Future. But at his lowest point, instead of hoping for a better future, Cas clung to Jack as proof that everything was unfolding as it was meant to—as a symbol of Fate.
Looking positively towards the future ISN'T necessarily a bad thing, so long as it doesn't swing too far into positive nihilism, and like I’ve said before... hoping for Big Things(TM) from your child is a common metaphor for parental struggle.
But it does mean that in those early days, Castiel’s devotion to Jack was wrapped up in what Jack represented as much as who Jack actually was.
And that vision of Cas’s in the 12x19 script—man. Cas doesn’t just see a world where Jack brings peace to the Winchesters. He sees himself transformed. Jack gives Sam freedom, gives Dean peace, and gives Cas a sense of power and purpose again. Cas is standing there shirtless and imposing, protective as an angel should be, while Dean is in extreme close-up, saying thank you.
Whether you interpret it as explicitly sexual or not, there’s an undeniable intimacy in how it's framed.
The through-line of Cas’s strength runs all the way from not being able to find the boys in prison (First Blood) to Ishim (Lily Sunder…) to Ramiel (Stuck in the Middle with You). He doesn’t want them to protect him. That’s anathema to Cas.
He wants a win for Dean… and for himself. This one of the few chunks of time that focuses not on what Cas does, but on how he is seen… and he’s seen by Dean. That’s significant to me.
And Jack’s brainwashing capacity, whether you think it was Jack’s subconscious or Chuck’s interference, adds even more stuff to why Cas was so immediately, fervently devoted.
I think that if Jack ever came to realize the truth of THAT, even partially, it would hurt like mofo, don’t you?
omfg he didn't really love me he doesn't really love me etc (Note/edit: It's implied here that Jack had no idea.)
We do actually get a glimpse of Cas and Jack fighting in 14x02:
JACK: It wasn’t a risk.
CAS: To—to go out there alone? Jack, you have been on the radar of every angel and demon and power broker in creation since the day you were born and I’m sorry, but you’re not exactly yourself.
JACK: Weak and defenseless, you mean.
CAS (teeth gritting): I mean that the possibility of capture is real, yes.
It nice, because usually what we see is Cas being stern with Jack, and Jack listening silently, eyes downcast.
But here, when Cas berates him—Jack chafes, stepping up into Castiel’s space, eyes flashing.
Jack is frustrated by being viewed as “stupid."
So, Jack throws a barb: that he wanted to see his real family. The way he spits those words echoes Dean in 5x21—when he looks Bobby in the eye and says "You’re not my father."
If Jack REALLY wanted to hit Cas where it hurts, though:
CAS: You’ve been on the radar of every angel and demon and power broker since you were born!
All Jack REALLY has to do and turn around and say that maybe Cas was one of those power brokers.
This would be fertile ground for a fight that reveals too much: Jack charging Cas with being a power broker, and Cas accidentally revealing that acting to protect Jack wasn’t 100% of his own free will at first.
The devastation on Jack’s face is immediate, and Cas scrambles to reassure him—"It’s my choice now."
I think this could create a deep fracture in their relationship—one that’s not easily mended.
Now that I think about it, this might be a more realistic way for the Big Fight(TM) to begin between the two of them.
