Nightlight
Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandom: Supernatural Ship: Gen (Jack & Lucifer & Sam) Additional Tags: Fluff, Kid Jack Kline, Good Parent Lucifer (Supernatural), not that that's a high bar to clear in this show but he's doing better than in canon, Good Parent Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester is Jack Kline's Parent, Nephil Jack Kline, Alternate Universe - Happy, Awkwardness, Family Bonding, Sleepy Cuddles, Autistic Jack Kline, Attempt at Humor, Father-Son Relationship, Queerplatonic Lucifer/Sam Winchester, Queerplatonic Relationships, Lucifer is Jack Kline's Parent Wordcount: 2,020 Summary:
Jack is scared of the dark. (or: Lucifer proves that lightbringer is a very literal title. Sam is here for emotional support.)
Sam doesnāt startle awake anymore. Heās pretty sure thatās a side effect of the whole āsleeping with an archangel thing.ā There are very few things in the universe that could sneak past Lucifer undetected, and if those things happen to get into Samās bedroom, heās already screwed. He might as well enjoy his ability to actually get some good sleep in the meantime, even if that comes at the cost of Lucifer inevitably sprawling out on top of him in a way that should probably feel like heās crushing Sam. (Only, the weight of him inside his vessel, that unnatural angel density that Cas has tried and failed to explain, is nice. Itās grounding. Samās had few enough things in his life that make him feel safe, and itās taken him a long time to accept that Lucifer can be one of them.)
He wakes slowly, even with the sound at the edge of his hearing becoming impossible to ignore. He blinks up into the darkness once, twice, then fumbles for his phone. He manages to knock it to the floor. He curses. Heās about to get out of bed before Lucifer makes a funny noise like a cat that doesnāt want to be picked up, and Samās phone is suddenly in his hand.
āThanks,ā he says. Lucifer squirms closer and presses his face against Samās shoulder. Lucifer seems to take offense at the idea of Samās personal space. Sam doesnāt think heād be able to breathe in that position if he were human. Perks of being an angel. Sam looks at the clock on his phone. 3 AM. Witching hour. The noise that woke him rings out again, and he can tell that itās coming from the door to his room this time. No one other than family would come knocking this late. He runs down the mental list. Dean doesnāt bother with knocking most of the time, and itās a little too quick to be Mom or Cas. Which leaves- āYour son is here.ā
āBefore sunrise, heās Castielās son,ā Lucifer mutters. Sam lets out a tired huff of laughter. Jack has recently discovered Disney movies, and Sam has since repeatedly caught Lucifer humming songs about animated lions. (And on one particularly rough night, singing to Sam to comfort him with what he only later realized was Can You Feel the Love Tonight.) The knocking comes a third time, this time accompanied by a small voice.
āDad?ā Despite his protest, Lucifer rolls off of Sam, but then he freezes. He just stares at the door that Jack is on the other side of. Samās brain goes straight to old studies of dogs being shocked until they stopped struggling. Sam tells his brain to shut up.
He puts a hand on Luciferās shoulder, squeezes once, and then gets up and walks past him to open the door. Jackās there, looking small and scared and every bit the child they sometimes forget he is when discussing the nuclear bomb of power he has inside him. Samās not sure how Jack knew to come to his room when looking for Lucifer, (heād thought they were keeping things well under wraps, enough to not freak Dean out, at least) but he chalks it up to some kind of latent angel instinct the kid has.
āI woke you up,ā Jack says, as though that possibility hadnāt crossed his mind until he was looking at Sam, who was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Jack ducks his head. āIām sorry.ā
āItās alright,ā Sam says. āCome in.ā He opens the door wider. Jack peeks inside, still hesitant. When he sees that yes, Lucifer is actually there, he looks a little relieved. āSo, what happened?ā The lamp on Samās beside table flickers to life without anyone touching it to replace the light from the hallway as Sam closes the door. The bulb whines in protest like itās considering bursting when it does so, and Sam frowns at Lucifer. The archangel does not meet his eyes, trying to watch Jack, and then failing to watch Jack, and finally letting his gaze settle off towards the opposite wall. Jack doesnāt notice, at least. Heās looking back at Sam again.
āDean doesnāt like being woken up in the middle of the night,ā he informs Sam, and Sam nods his most understanding nod, āso I couldnāt go to Cas, because heās sleeping in Deanās room.ā Sam manages another understanding nod. He wonāt say heās surprised, because heās not, he is so far from surprised, but this is still information that he wasnāt expecting to receive from his sort-of adopted son at three in the morning. āAnd I thought...ā Jack trails off.
āWhy did you want to get Cas?ā Jack shifts his feet awkwardly. Heās not meeting Samās eyes, but thatās not a product of nerves. He never looks directly at anyone, opting to stare at their shoulder or behind them instead. Dean says itās unnerving. Sam just files it next to other things, like Jackās hands flapping when heās excited or how heād probably only eat one thing for a month if they let him, and saves the information for later discussion.
āI had a nightmare,ā Jack says, quietly, āand my room is very dark.ā Sam opens his arms up in invitation. Jack brightens, just a little, and accepts the hug. Sam catches Luciferās eyes (heās looking back at them, expression a mixture of uncertainty and surprise) and tries to convey āheās your son and heās upset, say something.āĀ Lucifer makes a face back that roughly translates to āI spent most of my life in the Cage or ending the world, I donāt know how to deal with a child.ā He relents at Samās puppy-dog eyes.
āJack. Come here.ā Sam can tell heās trying for warmth. It comes out stilted. Jack wiggles his way out of Samās arms anyway and makes his way over to the bed. Lucifer pats the spot in front of him, and though Jack does sit there, neither of them look entirely comfortable. Jack rocks back and forth slightly. Sam comes over as well. Itās not that he thinks Lucifer will do anything intentionally bad, itās just... Thereās a reason Jackās first instinct was to go looking for Cas and not him. Luciferās been routinely terrible at this whole parenting thing. Itās not for lack of trying, but he doesnāt know what heās doing and next to Cas, who took to this whole situation like a duck to water?
Lucifer might be Jackās dad and nothing will change that, but Cas is Jackās dad too and nothing can change that either.
āYouāre one of the nephilim. You shouldnāt be scared of the dark.ā Jack curls in on himself a little. Sam makes a cutting motion with his hand near his mouth. Lucifer tries to course-correct. āYou donāt have to be. You can make your own light.ā Jack tilts his head, shoulders still drawn.
āI can?ā
āOf course you can, youāre my-ā Luciferās voice stops before he can finish the sentence like heās been muted. He recovers quickly. āYouāre half angel. Itās easy.ā
āOkay,ā Jack says, ābut how?ā Lucifer opens his mouth to answer and then shuts it again, frowning. ā...Dad?ā
āGive me a minute. Itās been a very long time since I taught anyone how to do this.ā He shuts his eyes for a moment. Sam wonders how much of that hesitation is him actually trying to recollect and how much of it is him trying to push down the fact that the last time he did this was probably before he got thrown into the Cage. āAlright, letās see.ā Lucifer reaches forward and takes Jackās hands in his own. Jack jolts back in surprise, but then he leans forward again, curiosity overriding his shock. Lucifer has him cup his hands like heās trying to hold water in them. āThis is all about intention and will, so focus.ā Jackās brow furrows in concentration.
Nothing happens.
Lucifer sighs, says under his breath, āMichael always was a better teacher than me.ā
āI donāt get what Iām supposed to focus on.ā Jack breaks his position, shaking his hands out nervously. He puts them back in place when heās done. Sam would love to help, but itās been a long time since he had any sort of psychic power and thatās not exactly a time in his life he wants to revisit.
āItās... How do I explain this to you.ā Lucifer rubs at his forehead. āNo. I canāt. Itāll be easier this way.ā He gestures towards Samās lamp, and the light dies. Jack inhales sharply, and Sam steps forward, reaching out in the dark to try and comfort the kid. Only, Sam blinks, and there is light. Itās not coming from his bedside table or even the light above him. Itās coming from Luciferās outstretched palm. Itās not a hovering ball of light like the cheap effects of some fantasy movie. Luciferās skin glows from the inside out. It grows and dims in a rhythm not unlike a heartbeat, but never once does it waver. Jack stares, transfixed. Sam canāt help but feel the same way. Lucifer glances up at him and preens under the attention. He reaches forward again to take Jackās hands.
āDoes it make more sense now?ā Jack nods.
āI think so.ā This time, as Jack concentrates, light does begin to flicker between his fingertips. āIs that right?ā
āYes. Keep going.ā Jack wiggles, all barely contained excitement, and Sam finds himself smiling. The light Jack produces is not as steady as Luciferās, nor as bright, but still, Samās room looks like it did before Lucifer turned the lamp back off. āVery good. I told you it was easy.ā Jack beams.
āIt looks like Sam!ā he says. Sam raises an eyebrow. Lucifer just nods.
āIt does, doesnāt it?ā Samās eyebrow creeps up higher.
āWhat looks like me, exactly?ā Jack turns to face him, and Lucifer tilts his head. Theyāre both grinning, and all of a sudden, the family resemblance is obvious.
āYouāre shiny!ā Jack says.
āIām what.ā
āWe have always been mirrors, Sam. Are you really that surprised that your soul reflects how radiant I once was?ā And Sam canāt exactly say that he is, that heās spent his entire life thinking that he was sullied, not when Jackās right there. Lucifer smiles like he knows that, and he has so much trouble getting Sam to accept compliments normally that Samās sure heās doing it on purpose. Sam counters. Turnabout is fair play.
āMirrors only reflect whatās still there, Lucifer.ā Lucifer pretends to take his words in stride, but Sam can see the few moments where heās caught off-guard by that. Jack looks between them, and then he ducks his head and bites his lip like heās trying to keep an even bigger grin from spreading over his face.
āThank you,ā he says, āfor teaching me how to do that.ā He rubs his hands together. āI can go back to my room now, I think.ā Sam looks at his bed (well, theirĀ bed, really. Itās not like Lucifer ever really uses the one in his room.) Itās pretty big.
āYou know, when I was a kid and I had nightmares,ā Sam says, āDean used to let me sleep in his bed.ā Heās not sure if angels have childhood nightmares or beds to climb into, but from the way Luciferās expression goes quiet and sad, Sam thinks he might have stirred up some kind of memory. āSo, I guess, if you wanted to stay-ā
āCan I?ā It all but leaps out of Jack. He repeats himself a second later, softer, glancing over at Lucifer. āCan I?ā Lucifer blinks, shakes whatever he was thinking of off, and nods.
āIf itāll help.ā
Which is how Sam learns that Jack? Is even worse about personal space than Lucifer.
Still, even if he spends the rest of the night squished between the archangel he loves more than heās ready to admit and his son whoās being collectively raised by the village of Winchester, itās worth it. Samās happy. Heās really, truly happy.
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