[tm] I.O.U.
[Set in fooledtheworld. Castiel is sitherequietly and mine to use and abuse. Faith and Dean are msattentionspan and ohgodkillme_now respectively and referenced without permission but with lots of love.]
Standing in the middle of her old apartment, it hit her that she really, truly was back.
Her old contact who had been taking care of her final requests had attacked her when he first saw her-probably would have killed her, if it hadn’t been for Faith-and hugged her once she proved it was really her and that she was human. He was quick to hand her back her keys and give her back her space, apologizing for the fact that most of her things were gone, given away in order to tie up loose ends. But soon Faith was gone, and he was gone and it was just her, alone, just like it should be.
Well, her, her apartment, and the demons that still resided in her head.
Faith had been a welcome distraction from the demons that still plagued her mind, focused on getting her answers as to why she wasn’t still in Hell and keeping her talking about things that weren’t important. She actually slept for a little while at Faith’s-not long, but enough that she wasn’t collapsing from exhaustion. Now that she was here, though, alone in the silence, she wasn’t sure that she could sleep with this. And for the time being, she wasn’t even going to try. She got herself a bottle of wine, turned on the television, and curled up in her bed, hoping the combination of both would get her to pass out.
There was a point where things got hazy. Where she lost track of what she was trying to remember for a moment, before she felt like she was almost waking up but not quite, and there was a man standing in her room. A man she didn’t recognize and certainly didn’t invite him. Her instincts snapped to without thinking, and she was hurling the half empty wine bottle at him, watching as it collided against his chest and shattered. The man didn’t seem phased in the slightest, just looking down at the shards of glass in his chest, and then back at her.
“If you are trying to kill me, glass is rather ineffective.”
“Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you get in here?”
The questions were coming faster than she realized she was saying them, but there was a man in her room, and she didn’t know how she got there. Some responses her time in Hell had only intensified and someone being this close without her permission was one of them. Her hand was going for her nightstand, searching out the gun that she kept there, and as she was raising it to face him he started speaking.
“That will not work either.”
“Want me to test that theory?”
The man seemed very put upon at that, so he just sighed before responding. “My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord. We need to talk.”
She choked at that. She almost shot him on principle, just to test the theory. But she didn’t keeping the gun level and trying not to lose it entirely. “An angel? Forgive me if I don’t buy that.”
“Considering you used me to get out of Hell, I think that the least you could do is believe the fact that I am what I say I am. In fact, I think that’s the least of what you owe me.”
That made her gun hand shake just slightly. She wasn’t sure if she should believe it at first, because nothing in her life had ever been what it said it was, but for some reason, she couldn’t not believe it either, and that was unsettling. She took a step back, before swallowing and trying to find something to say. “So it was you, then?”
“Yes. Dean Winchester was my goal at the time, but somehow you managed to get out as well.”
“Well-I’ve always been one for opportunity.” She swallowed before leveling the gun in front of her again. “So why are you here? Planning to send me back?”
Castiel paused, watching her for a moment, before shaking his head. “No. That is not my orders at this time.”
That took her back a bit. “Your orders?”
“From Heaven.” His tone was so simple and matter of fact that she was sure that any kind of sarcasm would be lost on him. “We are not unsympathetic to your situation, and are willing to let you live. For now.”
“For now? That doesn’t sound foreboding at all.”
“Attempt to double cross the Winchesters again, or resume your relationship with Lilith, and I will not hesitate to put you back where you came from.” There was an edge of ‘where you belong’ to his words, and that made her stiffen in protest. “Otherwise, consider this a second chance.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” She was aware that her voice was shaking. She wasn’t sure how to process all of this information, and for now she was just rambling, trying to sound at least somewhat confident in what she was doing. “I don’t plan on going anywhere near the Winchesters.”
“Good.” He turned and reached for one of the charms that was sitting on her dresser, studying it for a moment, before placing it back down and turning back to look at her. “Be careful, Abby.”
As soon as he finished speaking, she jerked awake with a gasp, looking around for any sign of the angel and finding none. She leaned back against the bed, trying to catch her breath, before shaking her head and getting up, searching for her shoes and heading towards the door. She couldn’t be there right then. She couldn’t be alone.
And she couldn’t help but think that the whole situation was making her a little too crazy.
971 words
Standing in the middle of her old apartment, it hit her that she really, truly was back.
Her old contact who had been taking care of her final requests had attacked her when he first saw her-probably would have killed her, if it hadn’t been for Faith-and hugged her once she proved it was really her and that she was human. He was quick to hand her back her keys and give her back her space, apologizing for the fact that most of her things were gone, given away in order to tie up loose ends. But soon Faith was gone, and he was gone and it was just her, alone, just like it should be.
Well, her, her apartment, and the demons that still resided in her head.
Faith had been a welcome distraction from the demons that still plagued her mind, focused on getting her answers as to why she wasn’t still in Hell and keeping her talking about things that weren’t important. She actually slept for a little while at Faith’s-not long, but enough that she wasn’t collapsing from exhaustion. Now that she was here, though, alone in the silence, she wasn’t sure that she could sleep with this. And for the time being, she wasn’t even going to try. She got herself a bottle of wine, turned on the television, and curled up in her bed, hoping the combination of both would get her to pass out.
There was a point where things got hazy. Where she lost track of what she was trying to remember for a moment, before she felt like she was almost waking up but not quite, and there was a man standing in her room. A man she didn’t recognize and certainly didn’t invite him. Her instincts snapped to without thinking, and she was hurling the half empty wine bottle at him, watching as it collided against his chest and shattered. The man didn’t seem phased in the slightest, just looking down at the shards of glass in his chest, and then back at her.
“If you are trying to kill me, glass is rather ineffective.”
“Who are you? What are you doing here? How did you get in here?”
The questions were coming faster than she realized she was saying them, but there was a man in her room, and she didn’t know how she got there. Some responses her time in Hell had only intensified and someone being this close without her permission was one of them. Her hand was going for her nightstand, searching out the gun that she kept there, and as she was raising it to face him he started speaking.
“That will not work either.”
“Want me to test that theory?”
The man seemed very put upon at that, so he just sighed before responding. “My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord. We need to talk.”
She choked at that. She almost shot him on principle, just to test the theory. But she didn’t keeping the gun level and trying not to lose it entirely. “An angel? Forgive me if I don’t buy that.”
“Considering you used me to get out of Hell, I think that the least you could do is believe the fact that I am what I say I am. In fact, I think that’s the least of what you owe me.”
That made her gun hand shake just slightly. She wasn’t sure if she should believe it at first, because nothing in her life had ever been what it said it was, but for some reason, she couldn’t not believe it either, and that was unsettling. She took a step back, before swallowing and trying to find something to say. “So it was you, then?”
“Yes. Dean Winchester was my goal at the time, but somehow you managed to get out as well.”
“Well-I’ve always been one for opportunity.” She swallowed before leveling the gun in front of her again. “So why are you here? Planning to send me back?”
Castiel paused, watching her for a moment, before shaking his head. “No. That is not my orders at this time.”
That took her back a bit. “Your orders?”
“From Heaven.” His tone was so simple and matter of fact that she was sure that any kind of sarcasm would be lost on him. “We are not unsympathetic to your situation, and are willing to let you live. For now.”
“For now? That doesn’t sound foreboding at all.”
“Attempt to double cross the Winchesters again, or resume your relationship with Lilith, and I will not hesitate to put you back where you came from.” There was an edge of ‘where you belong’ to his words, and that made her stiffen in protest. “Otherwise, consider this a second chance.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” She was aware that her voice was shaking. She wasn’t sure how to process all of this information, and for now she was just rambling, trying to sound at least somewhat confident in what she was doing. “I don’t plan on going anywhere near the Winchesters.”
“Good.” He turned and reached for one of the charms that was sitting on her dresser, studying it for a moment, before placing it back down and turning back to look at her. “Be careful, Abby.”
As soon as he finished speaking, she jerked awake with a gasp, looking around for any sign of the angel and finding none. She leaned back against the bed, trying to catch her breath, before shaking her head and getting up, searching for her shoes and heading towards the door. She couldn’t be there right then. She couldn’t be alone.
And she couldn’t help but think that the whole situation was making her a little too crazy.
971 words