DEAR JACK,
Many people choose to forget.
Others choose to fight.
Most of the time I fight when I want to forget.

❂

THERE WAS A DEAD END WHEN THE GRAVE HAD HELD A BODY INSIDE. A revenant had been ruled out and with another body found dead, they had no choice but to start working quickly to find their next possible monster.

While Sam had been finding out more about the newest victim, Dean had sent Jack out for hotdogs. Only, Rose was not willing to stay with Dean after what she had heard from him and offered to go along to grab the food.

In line, Jack had been struck with sadness once again after Dean had sent him off. "Thanks for coming with me. I'm not really sure what to do."

"No problem. Besides, if you screw up any part of Dean's order, whether he likes you or not, you're dead to him. He's dramatic like that."

Jack found himself focusing more on Dean standing far away rather than her words. He had so desperately wanted him to like him. There were plenty of reasons that Dean had openly named to not like Jack, but still he wasn't sure why Dean believed it when he hasn't done anything bad yet.

Rose had seen the hurt in Jack's eyes and felt that she had no other choice but to speak up. "He doesn't like you because he doesn't know you."

Hearing her, he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "He thinks he does."

"Yeah, but he doesn't. If he actually talked to you like Sam and I, he'd see you're good. But I don't know, it's kind of nice being you and me. I'd hate for you to find a new partner already."

Taking note of her playful smile, Jack felt more relaxed. "I'm not going to find anyone else. I think we make a good team. At least, Sam told me so."

"Oh, he did?"

Nodding his head, Jack moved up further in line, "He did and I think he's right."

"Yeah, well, you're kinda like Cas, so it makes sense. We used to spend a lot of time together too. We weren't that great at actually working together, but we always had fun."

At the mention of Castiel, Jack felt closed up. Since that night he had wished for Castiel to come back, he had felt strange. "You don't think he'll come back, do you?"

"I think there's a chance," she admitted. "And if he does, whatever dynamic that the four of us have going on here... it's gonna go away. Cas won't push you away and probably get mad at Dean for being mean to you. He did it for me."

Just thinking about Castiel had brought a frown to Roses face. No matter how much she had tried to cover it up, she couldn't. Cas had meant something to every one of them. He was someone that they couldn't easily forget and move on from. If it had not been for the overwhelming pain they had all felt for losing so many, they would've tried something to bring him back. Even if that meant dragging God back to Earth and making him.

❂

THE VICTIMS ALL HAD ONE THING IN COMMON. It had been Mia Vallen, a grief counselor that had helped the victims with the loss of their loved ones— the same loved ones that had been the ones that had killed them.

Dean was against going to see Mia, knowing there was a large chance he'd be roped into a story that they were there for counseling. The last thing he wanted was to speak to anyone about his own issues, even if it was something he had desperately needed.

They had all headed up the steps of the Vallen Family Therapy Studio when a man had just been exiting. Sam had given a quick and polite hello as he had passed while Dean and Rose had kept on walking, giving the man a small smile in return. Jack had thought Sam's approach was much nicer than a simple smile.

Stopping himself, his smile had grown much larger than Dean's and Rose's as he held up a hand. "Hello."

The man had been caught off guard by the politeness that Jack had given him. Stopping short, he gave Jack an awkward smile and a nod in return. This simple gesture had annoyed Dean, but that had only been because he had hated everything Jack did.

Deciding to move on, Sam had pushed open the door, gesturing for all to head in before him. Of course this had only been because he wanted to be sure that Dean didn't run off at the last second.

Both the Winchester brothers had tried to reason with the receptionist about seeing Mia, but he had only been refusing after such a long day. Even Dean's cold stare and clear demands, he wasn't planning on budging. But thankfully, Mia had been making her way down the stairs when she heard the small commotion.

"You've lost someone recently?" She questioned the group as she reached the bottom step.

Before Sam could explain why they had wanted to see her, Dean was quick to say no. This was a case he needed to be a distraction, not one that had made him face his problems head on. However, Jack was ready to deal with his issues.

"My mother," he said simply.

Following Jack's lead, Sam stepped forward. "Our mother. We're having a difficult time."

Already Mia could see through all of them that they all had something they were dealing with. It was obvious they were all hiding it in different ways. Jack had been open and ready to heal while Dean was the opposite. As for Sam and Rose, she could see it, but was unsure how they were holding onto their grief. This had only made her more eager to begin the process and hurried herself to introductions.

As she had lead them towards her office, Dean had laid a hand on Jack's shoulder. With Jack speaking up, Dean was more annoyed that he was brought into the mess. He demanded that Jack only speak when he had allowed him which made Jack upset.

Noticing the interaction, Rose left Sam's side as she watched Dean pass her as Jack had stood there. Coming up to him, she gave him a questioning look. "What'd he say to you?"

"He told me I am not allowed to speak unless he tells me to."

Rolling her eyes, Rose linked her arm with him to get him to follow along. "Don't listen to him. This is our case."

Managing a smile, he gave her a nod but his nerves were still there. He hated upsetting Dean and wasn't sure he could go against his instruction.

Mia had held the door open as she had waited for Jack and Rose to follow in. "Your mother -- she passed suddenly?" She had listened as Sam had responded to her, but her attention had been more towards the uneasy tension that had settled across the group. Both Sam and Dean had taken the single armchairs beside one another while Jack and Rose had taken the couch to themselves.

What had been the most interesting was the cold look that Dean had given the two as they had sat beside one another. Jack had his eyes focused on his lap while Rose had only seemed to only keep her attention on Sam.

Taking her own seat, Mia looked to the group with a smile. "Most people are in the same boat. No warning, no goodbye, no closure."

"Yeah, right, pretty much the same for us," Sam said. "So, how does this usually work? You know, with your patients?"

"Usually they just start talking about the person they've lost."

Getting comfortable in his seat, Dean gave her a smirk that told her enough about his behavior. "All right, well, Mom was great, now she's dead. What's the deal with catharsis?"

Taken by surprise by his sudden question, Mia was unsure how to answer so quickly. Sam made sure to jump in to correct for Dean's attitude. "We were wondering what that is. Um, a patient of yours, Gloria Simon, she referred us. She's a family friend."

Before Sam could continue on, Mia cut him off. "I don't talk about my patients, and Gloria wasn't supposed to talk about me."

"Sure. Got it. But your process..."

"My program is a range of things. Talk therapy, meditation. You ever journal?"

Already prepping to give a response that would make his brother upset, Dean sat straighter. "Ever since I was a little girl."

"You think this shrink stuff is a load of crap. Am I right?" Mia retorted right back.

"How'd you guess?"

"Then why are you here?"

Stepping in once more, Sam rejoined the conversation. "Because, uh, we all agreed we'd give it a shot, right?" His attention had turned to the two opposite of him, hoping there was someone on his side of things. And in response, Jack and Rose both nodded their heads.

Pleased with this, Mia gestured over their way. "Ah, Rose, I've yet to hear from you."

"Oh, no," Dean spoke up. "No, she doesn't have much to say on it. See, her and Mom, they didn't have much of a relationship."

Unable to hide his anger, Sam turned to Dean with lips formed into a tight line. Mia on the other hand had ignored Dean and gestured for Rose to say her peace.

Feeling the pressure, Rose had scooted closer to Jack. It had been unintentional, but having him beside her made her feel better. But Dean had been right, she didn't have as much of a relationship with Mary and there wasn't much to say. She didn't even know her own mom enough to even speak on her.

Clearing her throat anxiously, she shifted in her seat and spoke about someone she did know enough to be as a mom. "I loved her. Uh, my mom... she didn't really know how to handle me. She sort of pushed me away at first, but then something changed. I don't know why, or how, but I think she loved me and now she's gone. And there's nothing I can do."

Dean's eyes had been trained on Rose as she had spoke. For a second, he had wondered where this sudden love for Mary had come from. Then it had hit him that Rose wasn't talking about her, but about Rowena. Though he didn't show it, he had felt guilty for pushing aside her feelings. It was when he had noticed how Jack had looked to her as she spoke that reminded him why he was furious and that guilt was locked up instantly. After all, he believed the people they loved were dead because of Jack.

"Rose, she's, uh, I think she's handling this well," Sam said, giving a knowing smile in Rose's direction. That was his truth. All he had expected was for the same reaction that Dean had been given but Rose had been helpful with Jack, not resentful, and if she had been hurting, she'd take time for herself before coming back around. "I'll be honest, I thought it'd be worse. But her and Jack... I feel like we can all talk through it. Dean, on the other hand, he's not processing his grief."

"No, I'm good," Dean chuckled. "With death, closure, with freakin' bottle of Jack. Because I know Mom's dead, and I know that she's not coming back."

"Okay, I hear what you're saying. I just wish..."

Stopping Sam short once again, Mia joined in to the conversation. "You wish he'd be more open to therapy?"

Unable to listen to any talk about how he was the one wrong in the whole situation, Dean sat forward. "All right, this is a safe place, right, Doc? My brothers delusional."

"Dean," Sam warned.

"You said you wanted to give this a shot, right? Here we go. He won't even admit that Mom's dead. Won't even admit it. Because if he admits it, then it's real. If it's real, then he has to deal with it. And he can't handle it."

"Right, because this is so easy for you, huh?" Sam shot back. "At least you had a real relationship with Mom. I mean, who would she always call? Who did she look to for everything? You had something with her I never had! And I'm just supposed to accept the fact that I never will have it?" Frustrated, Sam stood up, giving a glare to his brother before stomping out of the room. Slamming the door behind him, the room rattled causing Rose to tense up from the outburst between the brothers.

"Problem?" Dean asked Mia, smirking to himself despite how terrible he had made Sam feel.

"You just upset your brother so much, he had to leave the room. And Jack? Rose? They're terrified of you."

"Nah," Dean laughed, "We're simpatico, right?"

"Simpatico," the two said flatly.

Looking over to Dean, Mias frown deepened, "Convincing."

There was an uneasiness flowing through Rose as she thought about Sam. He had always been strong through all of this and Dean had hurt him badly enough to cause him to leave. Standing up, she informed the group that she was leaving to check in on Sam. To Mia, this was great to see, but to Dean, it had annoyed him further. "She's got a favorite brother," he told.

Unable to listen to Dean's attacks, Rose followed out of the room in hopes of escaping anything more he had to say. As she had made her way down the hall, she thought over what to say to Sam but there had been so much. He had been checking on everyone else, that no one had checked in on him.

Coming to the entrance, there was no one in sight. Ready to head out to the Impala to be sure he wasn't leaving them, footsteps from above had stopped her in her path.

Walking over the privacy sign that had roped off the stairs, she followed up in search of Sam. When the random smears of blood had been visible on the railing of the stairs, curiosity and a slight bit of nerve had caused her to tense up. This was a reminder that they weren't there purely for therapy, but a case.

Following the path of smeared blood, Rose had slowly pulled out a blade as a repercussion. Coming across the open door straight ahead, she slowly advanced, ready to allow herself in before colliding into something.

As fear burst through Sam and Rose, each had went to react, only Sam had went to grab her while she had went straight to fighting. It was when Sam had exclaimed in shock and pain from a cut to his arm, he let her go. "Hey! It's me!"

Wide eyed in surprise, Rose took a step back and hide her blade away. "Sorry, I thought you were a monster." Letting out a heavy breath of air to release her nerves, she looked up to him. "I was coming to make sure you're okay."

Pulling his hand off of the newest mark he had left on his arm, he wiped the bit of blood on his jeans with a low laugh. "Yeah, doing great now."

"It was an accident."

"I know." Pausing, he felt he had more to say. There was so much of him that had wanted to open up to her and release everything he had felt. Even if she had saw his implosion on Dean, he didn't want to put it all on her. "I found something."

Taking a step to the side, he pulled open the shower curtain to reveal a tub full of shedded skin and much more. Both had scrunched your their noses from the sight and smell as they realized what they were actually up against.

"Shifter," they both confirmed in unison. Finally closing the curtain, Sam pulled out his gun as he went to head back to his brother and Jack. Confusion had swept over Rose as he had made his way towards the door. She had came to talk to Sam about how he had felt and suddenly it had turned back to the case just as quick. "I didn't know my mom either," she called to him.

Sam stopped in his tracks, keeping his back to her as she turned to face him. "She didn't care about me, at least as far as I know. Mary cares about you and she's coming back even if we have to get her ourselves. You deserve to have her back, Sam. No matter what Dean says."

Slowly, he had turned back towards her. He had plastered a smile to his face that he was sure was only to show Rose he was okay. "We should warn the others about the shifter. Make sure no one gets killed."

Sam exited without another word, leaving Rose standing there staring at an empty doorway. It was a surprise to her that it hadn't hurt for him to ignore her. Sam had always known that Rose had hated talking about her mom, and for her to be so open for those few moments was enough for him and he never wanted to push his luck for more.