Just A Chance For Better Days
Title: Just A Chance For Better Days
Fandom: Good Omens, Supernatural (mildly)
Series: Outrunning The Bad Luck Tailing Us
Characters/Pairing: Adam Young, references to Aziraphale, Crowley (GO version only), Michael, Raphael, and Lucifer (all SPN flavor) Abby Turner (OC), implied Adam/Pepper
Summary: The abdicated Antichrist and his Counterbalance, on the verge of Apocalypse Take Two
Author's Note: Here is where the Outrunning 'verse starts branching beyond Cas and Gabe, into the larger AU I've been meaning it to be. There's a lot of backstory not explained here; it will be, later in the 'verse. Title and cut text inspired by/taken from the Goo Goo Dolls' "Better Days".
Disclaimer: Not mine, except for Abby.
It's after she's gone to bed in her London flat, half-asleep and drifting, when she hears it. A faint crack in the back of her mind, a sound that has her jolting out of a deep, for once dreamless sleep. Abby's eyes are wide in the dark as she fumbles for the lamp, and she blinks when she manages to turn the light on. She knows what that sound was, and it's not good news.
It's the final Seal.
Abby knew when the first one broke as well, she'd felt that. The others... Unfortunately she wasn't tied to them, and so she hadn't been able to monitor what was happening. Hadn't wanted to, if she's honest, because she just wants to live her life. That may not be an option now.
Years ago, when the Antichrist was born, Michael didn't like it. There was never supposed to be an Antichrist, as the humans understood it, a child of Satan destined to bring about the Apocalypse. At least, not in the version of events he believes in. The truth is that there very nearly had been an Apocalypse because of said Antichrist, but Abby only knows about that from secondhand sources. She wasn't here, she was safe in America at the time. For a given value of the term 'safe'.
The point is, that Michael had been concerned. Concerned that Lucifer was setting up a backup vessel in case his prophesied vessel - one of two hunter brothers, if she remembers correctly, and she might want to find out their surname now - refused him. Michael, never one to let an enemy gain the advantage, had simply decided that if Lucifer had such a vessel, a child of his own line to take his Grace should it be needed, well... Michael would simply need one too.
Thus, Abby.
Abby's never known why Michael didn't make sure she was carefully raised to her destiny should it ever happen. The only theory she can come up with is that he wanted her as an ace in the hole, or whatever term angels use instead since they don't know many modern sayings. He didn't want anyone to know about her, so he pretended she wasn't there. It's a moot point in any case, because Adam Young rejected his role as the Antichrist. He won't be saying yes to his father if it comes to that, and Lucifer probably knows it. That means that Abby doesn't need to say yes to Michael.
It apparently doesn't mean that her direct line to all things Apocalyptic has been cut, and that just sucks.
Because here's the thing. Adam? He's human, or might as well be. The part of him that's not is locked away, though someone like Abby can feel it because that's part of what she does and who she is. What she is, what Adam really is, aside from all the other stuff, is a Nephilim. Half angel, half human. And not really either one. Adam was raised human; for him, his angel side is something dangerous, something to be locked away. She can't blame him, because she knows a little bit about how he was with that side awake and in control. It was probably partly his father influencing him, but she can't blame him for not wanting to risk it.
Abby was raised as a Nephilim, though, and for her balancing the two sides is second nature. She grew up hearing legends of the First Massacre. They tell that story in the Book of Enoch, how God sent Gabriel the Messenger to destroy the Nephilim. The attack was a success, but what no one ever noted was that there was a second wave of Nephilim, after the Flood. They had different ancestors, and their conceptions were consensual - part of why the original Nephilim were monstrous was because angels need consent for almost everything. The Watchers didn't get consent, and so...
The second time around, the angels who conceived children with humans were mostly vessel-bound, the Los Duendos angels trapped between Heaven and Hell during the War. Not quite fallen, but not exactly part of the Host anymore either. And of course, Nephilim had children with other Nephilim, and over the centuries they became a race in their own right, living among the fae and accepted by them, because they had nowhere else to go.
They don't exist anymore, except as a few lucky survivors hiding among the humans. And whenever Abby thinks about that, she pulls a saint's medal from her pocket or picks it up from the nightstand. The Catholics are interesting, they make even some of the angels into saints. Abby's medal is “St. Raphael.” She flips it over her fingers and thinks of lightning destroying the only home she'd ever known, killing her family. If it could possibly be a success, she'd try and take Raphael down, but as it is all she can do is daydream about it.
All she can do is wonder if Michael knew, when and if he gave the orders, that she was there, and if it mattered to him at all if he did. The answers are probably yes and no, respectively.
She doesn't have time to be thinking about this. She doesn't know if there's any role for her in what's coming, but the Apocalypse has been stopped before. Maybe history can repeat itself.
~ ~ ~
It's a good thing she didn't promise Aziraphale that she'd stop by the bookstore, because she can't now. She's really not good at misleading the angel, and, well, if Crowley's there too then she's in even more trouble because fooling him's even harder. And she can't lie outright - the fae don't, so she never learned.
There is someone she does go to see.
At twenty-three, a university graduate, Adam Young has mostly lost his country speech, at least when he's in the city. He's home alone when she rings the bell, which she decides is just as well. Abby likes Pepper, but she can't be here for this conversation. “Abby, why are you here?”
“You heard it,” she says without preamble when he lets her inside the flat.
Adam gives her a look, and shrugs. “'Course I did, I'm not stupid. Doesn't explain what you're doing here.”
Abby shrugs, taking out her saint's medal and toying with it, mostly for something to do with her hands. “Confirmation, I guess. Making sure I'm not just imagining it.”
“And you want me to do something about it?” the one-time Antichrist demands, eyes narrowing. Abby rolls her own eyes, because really, does he think she's an idiot?
“You're not going to, I know that already. And look, Adam, you've done your part. Honestly, I don't even intend to ask you to jump back in again. I know what it'll cost you.”
“You don't, actually.”
Abby scowls. “All right, fine, maybe I don't really understand completely, but fuck all, I'm not an idiot. I get that it was hard for you, which is really all I need to understand. I guess... If your dad comes calling, you're not going to sign up, are you?” She doesn't think so, but she needs to know. Like, now, before she goes home. Because Adam... is not someone they want coming down on Lucifer's side. Or Michael's really, though that would be a little better - paradise isn't as bad as hellfire for humanity as a whole, though with Abby's knowledge of angels she really does think it's more a choice of evils. But she's prejudiced; most angels consider Nephilim to be abominations and there's no place for the handful of survivors anywhere in either result of the Apocalypse. There just isn't. Heaven and Hell agree on one thing; they want no part of the Nephilim.
Earth is all they have. Earth is all Abby has. And she thinks it's all Adam has, so she's hoping that...
“No,” Adam says with very real disgust. “I'm staying out of it, Abby. It's your turn now, you're my 'Counterbalance' or whatever Mr. Aziraphale and Mr. Crowley called you, so why don't you have a go?”
Why doesn't she indeed. And it's a fair question, really. She's been running around half-cocked, heading back to the States because it's all going to end there - America really is the most important place in the world suddenly, and she can almost see the collective eye-rolls of the international community over that one.
Why doesn't she try and put a stop to it all? It might be too late, with the Seals broken and all, but... Adam stopped it at the very last minute this time. She has no official role the way he did, not now, but maybe there's a chance of her doing something.
What the hell, it's worth a shot. It isn't like she has anything to lose.
Fandom: Good Omens, Supernatural (mildly)
Series: Outrunning The Bad Luck Tailing Us
Characters/Pairing: Adam Young, references to Aziraphale, Crowley (GO version only), Michael, Raphael, and Lucifer (all SPN flavor) Abby Turner (OC), implied Adam/Pepper
Summary: The abdicated Antichrist and his Counterbalance, on the verge of Apocalypse Take Two
Author's Note: Here is where the Outrunning 'verse starts branching beyond Cas and Gabe, into the larger AU I've been meaning it to be. There's a lot of backstory not explained here; it will be, later in the 'verse. Title and cut text inspired by/taken from the Goo Goo Dolls' "Better Days".
Disclaimer: Not mine, except for Abby.
It's after she's gone to bed in her London flat, half-asleep and drifting, when she hears it. A faint crack in the back of her mind, a sound that has her jolting out of a deep, for once dreamless sleep. Abby's eyes are wide in the dark as she fumbles for the lamp, and she blinks when she manages to turn the light on. She knows what that sound was, and it's not good news.
It's the final Seal.
Abby knew when the first one broke as well, she'd felt that. The others... Unfortunately she wasn't tied to them, and so she hadn't been able to monitor what was happening. Hadn't wanted to, if she's honest, because she just wants to live her life. That may not be an option now.
Years ago, when the Antichrist was born, Michael didn't like it. There was never supposed to be an Antichrist, as the humans understood it, a child of Satan destined to bring about the Apocalypse. At least, not in the version of events he believes in. The truth is that there very nearly had been an Apocalypse because of said Antichrist, but Abby only knows about that from secondhand sources. She wasn't here, she was safe in America at the time. For a given value of the term 'safe'.
The point is, that Michael had been concerned. Concerned that Lucifer was setting up a backup vessel in case his prophesied vessel - one of two hunter brothers, if she remembers correctly, and she might want to find out their surname now - refused him. Michael, never one to let an enemy gain the advantage, had simply decided that if Lucifer had such a vessel, a child of his own line to take his Grace should it be needed, well... Michael would simply need one too.
Thus, Abby.
Abby's never known why Michael didn't make sure she was carefully raised to her destiny should it ever happen. The only theory she can come up with is that he wanted her as an ace in the hole, or whatever term angels use instead since they don't know many modern sayings. He didn't want anyone to know about her, so he pretended she wasn't there. It's a moot point in any case, because Adam Young rejected his role as the Antichrist. He won't be saying yes to his father if it comes to that, and Lucifer probably knows it. That means that Abby doesn't need to say yes to Michael.
It apparently doesn't mean that her direct line to all things Apocalyptic has been cut, and that just sucks.
Because here's the thing. Adam? He's human, or might as well be. The part of him that's not is locked away, though someone like Abby can feel it because that's part of what she does and who she is. What she is, what Adam really is, aside from all the other stuff, is a Nephilim. Half angel, half human. And not really either one. Adam was raised human; for him, his angel side is something dangerous, something to be locked away. She can't blame him, because she knows a little bit about how he was with that side awake and in control. It was probably partly his father influencing him, but she can't blame him for not wanting to risk it.
Abby was raised as a Nephilim, though, and for her balancing the two sides is second nature. She grew up hearing legends of the First Massacre. They tell that story in the Book of Enoch, how God sent Gabriel the Messenger to destroy the Nephilim. The attack was a success, but what no one ever noted was that there was a second wave of Nephilim, after the Flood. They had different ancestors, and their conceptions were consensual - part of why the original Nephilim were monstrous was because angels need consent for almost everything. The Watchers didn't get consent, and so...
The second time around, the angels who conceived children with humans were mostly vessel-bound, the Los Duendos angels trapped between Heaven and Hell during the War. Not quite fallen, but not exactly part of the Host anymore either. And of course, Nephilim had children with other Nephilim, and over the centuries they became a race in their own right, living among the fae and accepted by them, because they had nowhere else to go.
They don't exist anymore, except as a few lucky survivors hiding among the humans. And whenever Abby thinks about that, she pulls a saint's medal from her pocket or picks it up from the nightstand. The Catholics are interesting, they make even some of the angels into saints. Abby's medal is “St. Raphael.” She flips it over her fingers and thinks of lightning destroying the only home she'd ever known, killing her family. If it could possibly be a success, she'd try and take Raphael down, but as it is all she can do is daydream about it.
All she can do is wonder if Michael knew, when and if he gave the orders, that she was there, and if it mattered to him at all if he did. The answers are probably yes and no, respectively.
She doesn't have time to be thinking about this. She doesn't know if there's any role for her in what's coming, but the Apocalypse has been stopped before. Maybe history can repeat itself.
~ ~ ~
It's a good thing she didn't promise Aziraphale that she'd stop by the bookstore, because she can't now. She's really not good at misleading the angel, and, well, if Crowley's there too then she's in even more trouble because fooling him's even harder. And she can't lie outright - the fae don't, so she never learned.
There is someone she does go to see.
At twenty-three, a university graduate, Adam Young has mostly lost his country speech, at least when he's in the city. He's home alone when she rings the bell, which she decides is just as well. Abby likes Pepper, but she can't be here for this conversation. “Abby, why are you here?”
“You heard it,” she says without preamble when he lets her inside the flat.
Adam gives her a look, and shrugs. “'Course I did, I'm not stupid. Doesn't explain what you're doing here.”
Abby shrugs, taking out her saint's medal and toying with it, mostly for something to do with her hands. “Confirmation, I guess. Making sure I'm not just imagining it.”
“And you want me to do something about it?” the one-time Antichrist demands, eyes narrowing. Abby rolls her own eyes, because really, does he think she's an idiot?
“You're not going to, I know that already. And look, Adam, you've done your part. Honestly, I don't even intend to ask you to jump back in again. I know what it'll cost you.”
“You don't, actually.”
Abby scowls. “All right, fine, maybe I don't really understand completely, but fuck all, I'm not an idiot. I get that it was hard for you, which is really all I need to understand. I guess... If your dad comes calling, you're not going to sign up, are you?” She doesn't think so, but she needs to know. Like, now, before she goes home. Because Adam... is not someone they want coming down on Lucifer's side. Or Michael's really, though that would be a little better - paradise isn't as bad as hellfire for humanity as a whole, though with Abby's knowledge of angels she really does think it's more a choice of evils. But she's prejudiced; most angels consider Nephilim to be abominations and there's no place for the handful of survivors anywhere in either result of the Apocalypse. There just isn't. Heaven and Hell agree on one thing; they want no part of the Nephilim.
Earth is all they have. Earth is all Abby has. And she thinks it's all Adam has, so she's hoping that...
“No,” Adam says with very real disgust. “I'm staying out of it, Abby. It's your turn now, you're my 'Counterbalance' or whatever Mr. Aziraphale and Mr. Crowley called you, so why don't you have a go?”
Why doesn't she indeed. And it's a fair question, really. She's been running around half-cocked, heading back to the States because it's all going to end there - America really is the most important place in the world suddenly, and she can almost see the collective eye-rolls of the international community over that one.
Why doesn't she try and put a stop to it all? It might be too late, with the Seals broken and all, but... Adam stopped it at the very last minute this time. She has no official role the way he did, not now, but maybe there's a chance of her doing something.
What the hell, it's worth a shot. It isn't like she has anything to lose.