The second part of Billie's plan for Jack was to find the Occultum. We found out Sister Jo was the last one to have it, so we went to talk to her. However, she told us that she had given it to Ruby. She claimed Ruby stashed it in Hell, so Sam, Dean and I headed down to find it, but it turned out it was a trick. Jo had lied to us. When we got back, Cass was mostly dead with Jack looking after him. Apparently, Cass thought he could talk to Ruby in the Empty and find out where the Occutum was... and it worked.

We needed a way to trick Chuck just in case he were to check in on us while we were out finding the Occultum, so we enlisted the help of a couple of doppelgangers. An alternate Sam, Dean and Ellie had managed to get through a rift into room 28 of the Bunker. After talking to them, and finding out all three of them were pretentious gits who apparently got payed for hunting in their world, we convinced them to pretend to be us for a little while until we got back from going after the Occultum.

⁘

"This the place?" Dean wrinkled his nose. "You sure?"

We had arrived at an isolated church that Cass had claimed the Occultum was located.

"Ruby was very specific," the angel replied.

"Yeah, well, so was Jo."

"Guys, I-I know I haven't been doing this as long as you, but doesn't this seem a little easy?" Jack questioned us.

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding.

Dean tried to door of the church, finding it locked. Just then, there was a growl from out in the darkness.

"You hear something?" Sam asked.

The growling morphed into a snarl.

"Is that a... bear?" Jack looked at us.

"No," Sam shook his head. "It's more like, uh..."

"Hellhounds," Cass finished.

The hellhounds started barking and closing in on us as Dean frantically tried to pick the lock.

"Dean," I squeaked. "Dean, you want to hurry a little bit?"

He finally got the door open and we all piled in as the hellhounds attacked.

"Go, go, go!" Sam yelled.

While Dean, Jack and I searched for the Occultum, Sam and Cass worked on barricading the door to keep the hounds out.

"You got it?" I shot in their direction.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed, straining.

"Guess Ruby forgot to mention the freakin' hellhounds," Dean grumbled.

"Yeah, it would seem," Cass nodded.

They chained the door handles together with handcuffs, still working to keep it shut as the hellhounds attacked on the other side.

"Where are we supposed to look?" Jack questioned us, looking around the interior of the church.

Dean shined a flashlight at the cross mounted over the altar.

"What's it supposed to be pointing to?" he asked.

"Guys! Could you maybe move it along?!" Sam snapped.

Dean, Jack and I looked around frantically. Jack paused, looking down at the floor.

"Dean, Ellie," he got our attention.

The moonlight that was shining through a small circular window created another cross in the aisle between the pews.

"The top of the cross," I realized. "It's right there."

"Guys!" Cass chimed in with Sam. "We can't hold them forever!"

Dean lifted one of the floorboards with a pocket knife to reveal a small blue velvet bag hidden underneath. Inside the bag was a small, beautifully decorated, metal sphere.

"The hell is that?" he asked. "Is that a map?"

"Maybe it's a key," I suggested, looking closer. "It's a passage in Enochian... Cass?"

Cass left Sam to hold the door by himself, coming over to translate.

"Uh... loosely translated, it says, um... 'In order to be in the Occultum, the Occultum must be in you'."

Jack took the sphere, studying in quietly while Sam continued to struggle against the hellhounds and we debated what to do next.

"Guys, I don't like it, alright?" Dean said. "I mean, first Jo sets us up with the- the killer demons, and now Ruby sends us to a place with hellhounds? These chicks want us dead. I don't trust any part of this."

He turned back to Jack, who was no longer holding the sphere.

"Where's the thing?"

"Um, I ate it," Jack stated matter-of-factly.

"You what?" I asked.

"Well, it said it had to be in me, so-"

"No!" Dean cried. "Spit it out."

"It's fine," Jack shook his head. "Okay? Nothing's happening."

He doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Aah!"

"Jack?" I asked.

"Jack?" Cass chimed in.

Groaning, Jack was swallowed up in a bright light and vanished.

"Jack?" Dean looked around.

"Jack!"

I hurried over to help Sam with the door while Cass and Dean started arguing.

"What do you mean, 'if Jack comes back'?!" Dean snarled.

"I don't know what's happening here," Cass shot back. "I-I had no idea this was gonna involve ingesting some magic sphere and then disappearing, Dean."

A ball of white light appeared by the ceiling and Dean and Cass turned to look at it. It floated down the middle of the aisle a few steps away from Sam and I, both still struggling with the door. The hellhounds continued snarling and barking on the other side as we stared.

"The hell?" Dean asked.

The light traveled back in the direction of Dean and Cass, none of us sure how to react. Just then, the doors burst open, sending Sam and I flying through the air screaming as we hit the ground. The barking and snarling increased as the hellhounds joined us inside. Sam and I were on our backs, waiting for the inevitable attack while Dean and Cass readied themselves. The ball of light increased in brightness until we were able to make out the hounds forms as they burned up, yelping.

When the hounds and light disappeared, Jack was back, curled up in a ball in the middle of the aisle.

"Jack?" Sam called.

"Jack? Hey," Dean crouched down next to him. "You okay?"

⁘

After dismissing the obnoxious douche versions of us, Dean and I made our way to the hall outside the kitchen to join the others where Cass was examining Jack.

"Is the kid okay?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Sam shrugged.

"He seems to have recovered," Cass informed us.

"So, Jack's back?" I asked him.

"Yeah, he is. But, um, something's different. Jack is, uh- well, he's been to the Garden. That's the crossroads of divinity and humanity. No one's been there since the exile till now. Till Jack."

We headed into the kitchen. Jack was sitting at the table, head down and hands together. We all stood back, watching him warily.

"Hey, Jack," I greeted him gently. "How you doing?"

"I... I'm so sorry," he choked out through tears.

"You what?" Dean asked.

"Why didn't I get it?" Jack continued sadly. "I mean, my mother died, too. Why didn't I understand? It was my fault."

My breath hitched in my throat as Cass leaned in to speak quietly.

"His soul is back."

"Please," Jack begged. "Just please forgive me."

He looked back down at the table as we all stared at him in shock.