Dean kept the binoculars trained on the kitchen window.
Jack continued tearing into the raw pork, but after a few more bites he slowed down, staring at the meat with growing frustration as though it wasn't satisfying the hunger anymore.
Dean frowned. "I think... normal meat isn't enough for him anymore."
Sam took the binoculars for another look. At that moment, Jack's wife walked into the kitchen. Jack immediately turned toward her.
For a brief second his expression changed — eyes locking onto her with a hunger that had nothing to do with affection. The same look a starving predator gave its prey.
Sam's grip on the binoculars tightened. "Dean... I think the symptoms are already in the final stage."
Inside the house, Jack's breathing grew heavier. His fingers twitched involuntarily. For a terrifying moment it looked as though he was fighting every instinct in his body not to lunge at her.
Then he suddenly shut his eyes and violently shook his head. When he opened them again, the predatory look was gone. Without a word to his wife, he turned, walked out the front door, climbed into his truck, and drove away.
"Dean, we need to follow him," Henry said. "He's losing control. If that hunger gets any worse, he could attack the first person he sees."
Dean didn't argue. He started the Impala and pulled onto the road, keeping several car lengths behind Jack's truck as they disappeared into the night.
Jack's truck pulled into the parking lot of a local bar. Dean parked across the street with a clear view of the entrance and watched Jack head inside.
"Henry, stay with the car," Dean said, opening his door. "Sam and I will keep an eye on him from inside. If anything goes sideways, call us."
Henry nodded. "Got it."
Dean and Sam crossed the street and disappeared into the bar. Left alone, Henry climbed out and stretched his legs.
A vending machine stood near the edge of the parking lot. He walked over, fed in a few coins, and bought a can of Coke. The can hissed as he pulled back the tab.
"Henry Winchester."
The familiar voice sounded directly beside him. Henry immediately choked on the mouthful of Coke, spending the next several seconds coughing before catching his breath.
He turned his head. Castiel stood beside him as though he had been there the entire time, trench coat unmoved by the evening breeze, expression as unreadable as ever.
Henry wiped his mouth. "For the love of..." Another cough. "Do you angels have some kind of allergy to introducing yourselves from more than six inches away?"
Castiel looked at him without understanding the complaint. "I believed announcing your name would be sufficient."
"No... that's not how normal people do it."
"I am not a normal person."
Henry couldn't argue with that. "So what brings an angel to a random parking lot this time?"
"I need to speak with you."
Henry's smile faded. The fact that Castiel had chosen to approach him while Dean was inside wasn't lost on him. Dean was Michael's true vessel. If Castiel had wanted to talk to Dean, he could have waited. Instead he had come to Henry alone.
"What is it?"
"This concerns you." Castiel studied him with unwavering blue eyes.
"Until a year ago, you were an ordinary human. Then, without explanation, you became... different. I cannot fully discern your nature. I know only this — you are no longer entirely human."
Henry remained silent.
"For now our objectives are aligned. Heaven's priority is preventing the remaining Seals from breaking, and your actions have not opposed that mission. Therefore, I will overlook what you have become." His tone grew colder.
"Do not mistake that for acceptance. The moment you become a threat to mankind or to Heaven's purpose, I will destroy you."
Henry met the angel's gaze without backing down. "That's a comforting way to start a conversation."
"It was not intended to be comforting."
Henry gave a faint, humorless smile. "Well, since you've got time to threaten me, why don't you stop wasting it and go after Lilith? If she can't move, she can't break any more Seals."
"If it were that simple, the Apocalypse would have ended before it began."
"So what's stopping you?"
"Lilith is protected by forces beyond your understanding. Heaven cannot simply seize her whenever it wishes. If we could, she would already be imprisoned."
"So everybody knows where the problem is, but nobody can do anything about it."
"That is an oversimplification."
"It usually is." Henry finished the last of his Coke and shrugged.
"Instead of spreading Heaven's forces across thousands of Seals and hoping Lilith doesn't find one before you do, why not just capture Lilith? Lock her up somewhere she can't escape."
"If she can't move, she can't break any more Seals. Seems a lot simpler than stretching the entire angel army thin."
He tossed the empty can into a nearby trash bin and started walking back toward the Impala without waiting for a reply.
Castiel remained where he stood.
The idea was logical. If Lilith were imprisoned, the remaining Seals could no longer be broken by her hand. Heaven would no longer have to scatter its forces across the world with limited success.
His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. Why had no one proposed this? The archangels had ordered Heaven's host to guard the Seals, yet Seal after Seal continued to fall. Removing the one actively breaking them appeared far more efficient than defending every possible target.
Perhaps there were reasons known only to the archangels. Or perhaps...
He dismissed the thought before it could fully form. Questioning the strategy of Heaven's commanders was not his place.
Even so, Henry's words lingered in his mind as he watched the young hunter walk away.
*****
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