~II~ – Work In Progress

It doesn't take long for my wound to heal, I can feel the process. To appease Sam, though, I keep the wrappings on. I end up becoming the third of this party to kill Lilith. For a while, we find no leads.

That is, until Sam picks up on something, and then I catch on as well.

To most, what we see wouldn't be significant to humans. There are signs, omens, that Lilith is close, within striking distance. Sam and I keep this to ourselves for a bit, we plan to make this a mission just for the two of us. True, I most likely am not strong enough to kill Lilith, but perhaps Sam is.

Though, I honestly have no idea how he will overpower her.

I've become accustomed to the abandoned house. Sunlight filters through the dusty windows, and I find myself sneezing. My vessel must have a dust allergy.

I've also become accustomed to the presences that Sam and the demon give off. I'm often right in who approaches. Sam's feet are heavier than the demon's; she's almost inaudible to hear, even by my standards.

"How you feeling, feathers?"

I turn away from the dusty window to find the demon watching me curiously. I can't really get a read on her face, true face or not. She's hard to decipher. "Better."

"I know you and Sam are already buddying up, keeping things from me."

I roll my eyes. "Let me ask you something, since you would know better than me. When Sam finds Lilith, how is he going to stop her?"

"Well, since you're an angel, you must know what runs through his blood."

I swallow. "Yes, I do." How come I didn't connect it sooner? Of course. It's the reason why the angels are divided in having Sam Winchester kill Lilith. It's the reason why it is divided on the Winchester boy's existence in general. His blood contains blood of a demon, thanks to Azazael, a yellow-eyed demon. Little Sam had ingested it at just six months old, which was the night that his house burned down in Kansas, not to mention it was also the night he lost his mother, Mary Winchester, to death by a nursery fire. "Is he ready?"

"Far from it. I've been trying to get him to work on it. The attempts don't look good in our favor."

"He's just not trying hard enough."

"Oh, he is, feathers."

"What's with that name, demon?"

Now it's her turn to roll her eyes. "The name's Ruby, once you feel the need to stop calling me 'demon'."

"I'm just calling you what you are," I say innocently. "Where's the harm in that?"

"Look, I've dealt with enough demon racism for my lifetime. It'd be a nice break if it stopped at you."

I meet Ruby's brown eyes at hearing Sam on the move. "Sam?" The steps falter, he knows I've heard him. But it doesn't stop him, the footsteps resume. "Sam?" I leave the room, hearing Ruby on my tail. I see him packing a bag. "What is it?"

"Lilith. She's definitely in town," he insists. "I can end this right now."

"You're not ready yet," Ruby says, as she stands clear far away from me.

"It's now or never."

"No, we got to wait until you get it right. You haven't been too successful."

"Alright, I'll use this." I take note of the weapon he wields.

"Stop," Ruby insists. "You can't just fly in there reckless, Sam. We need you to take the bitch out."

"Oh, I'll take her out alright. I'll take Vera with me."

"You get one shot, and you're it. You're the only one who can do it, Sam. She won't be of much help to you. So if Lilith kills you first..." I pick up on the trail in Ruby's voice.

It suddenly comes to me, just as it has apparently to Ruby. We know why Sam is being so rash and aggressive about this sudden Lilith spotting.

Sam notices that we've gone silent. He looks between us. "What?"

"You don't want to survive this," I whisper in realization.

"Come on."

"It's a kamikaze attack," Ruby now realizes. "You want to die fighting Lilith."

"That's stupid."

"No, it's the truth, because if you kill her and you survive this, then you have to go on without your brother! This isn't what Dean would've wanted. This isn't what he died for."

I look at Ruby. She's got a lot of nerve, bringing up Sam's older brother, Dean Winchester. I remember hearing news of him being dragged into Hell. He's sort of how I chose to find Sam, once I realized that Sam could be the key to kill Lilith.

Sam starts to head out, but Ruby beats me to stopping him. She puts herself in front of the door.

"Get out of my way," Sam growls.

"No, Sam. This is suicide! If she," Ruby looks at me, "can see that, then you probably shouldn't do it!"

I grit my teeth as Ruby is held at knifepoint by Sam. Something tells me to goad him into killing her. She looks slightly afraid, and this is only the second time I've seen her afraid. The first was when I had shown up on their front door.

"Vera, if you know what's good for you, you'll let me go." Now Sam's voice has turned soft. Pleading almost.

"Don't listen to him, feathers," Ruby insists. I see the knife inch deeper towards her neck. "Stop him. You know it's suicide to let him go."

I close my eyes and exhale slowly. "When will we get another shot at her, if he doesn't go now?"

"What?"

"Good luck, Samuel," I say sincerely. "Just please don't let me hear that you've joined Heaven, or Hell."

Sam nods in thanks, removing the knife from Ruby's throat, as he stalks out the door. Ruby looks at me malevolently, I give her an empty stare.

"What the hell was that?!" she screeches at me. "A second ago you said he was insane for wanting to kill her. Now, you're just letting him march to his deathbed?! You're the most wishy-washy angel I've ever seen."

I snort in annoyance. "I'm probably the only one you've ever met, too. Just because I realized his intentions for going after Lilith doesn't mean that I agree that he should be stopped."

"What is wrong with you?" Ruby rubs her temples. "I thought angels were supposed to talk people from ledges like this?"

I tilt my head. "Your behavior is odd for a demon. Do you...care about Sam?"

"Of course not. I care about the chance to kill Lilith being wasted because our only hope of doing so is on a suicide mission!" She throws her hands up in exasperation. "Can you figure out where he's gone? You tracked us."

I nod slowly. "I'm sure that I can."

"Then let's stop him before he gets himself killed." Ruby starts to head out the door.

"You won't reach him in time if you take a vehicle."

She stops and looks at me. "How else am I gonna get to him?"

I point to myself. "How else do you think I got to Earth?"

"I don't know, I don't know how angels work."

"I can get us there. Unfortunately, it requires contact." My brows come together over my eyes.

"If it keeps him from being an idiot, it's a small price to pay." She stomps over to me. "So, how does this work, exactly? Do we need to hold hands or something?"

"No." With a hand on her shoulder, and a blink of my eyes, I land us somewhere close to Sam's position.

I realize we've been transported to a suburban neighborhood. Fortunately, no humans witness our random arrival. We're beside a side of a house.

"Is he in here?" Ruby knocks her knuckles against the side of the house.

"He must be. This is as close as I can get, I believe." A shiver ripples through my spine. "It's a trap."

"Of course." Ruby smacks her forehead. "And then he wondered why...Never mind, just come on."

I get the door open with some magic, and Ruby and I slip into the seemingly empty house. We find the hallway, and I hear the scuffling up ahead.

"Lilith sends her regrets," says a voice, demon most likely. "She couldn't make it."

Ruby and I rush in. She grabs the knife from the floor and kills one demon on the spot. On the bed inside of the room, I see a terrified little girl.

"Take the girl and run!" Ruby shouts.

My first instinct is to go to the little girl. Sam has the same notion. As Ruby fends off the demon, Sam and I coax the little girl to run off with him. I turn my attention to the demon, who's now knocked Ruby's knife out of her hand, back onto the floor.

"Ruby, you're in so much trouble," says the demon. "When we get you down in the basement—the things we're gonna do to you."

I shove the demon hard enough to spin him around. I put my hand on his forehead, focus my energy. I begin to smite him, but something goes wrong. Where I've been injured previously seizes up and burns. I cry out. The demon smirks, throttling me. I land on the little girl's bed. I begin to get up, just as I see Sam come back. A hand out, he exorcises the demon. The black smoke pours of the demon's mouth before sinking below the floor. Amazing.

"Sam," I say slowly. I'm not sure whether or not he's stable.

"I'm okay. Thanks."

"Don't thank me, this wasn't my idea." I nod towards Ruby. "All hers."

"Because someone apparently didn't care about the world being ruled by Lilith if he took his chance too early," Ruby drawls. "Let's get the hell out of here before she sends more after us. Mind doing the honors, feathers?"

"I-I don't think I'm in a position to right now." I don't trust my powers that just decided to falter all of a sudden.

"That's okay, I drove here," says Sam. "You'll just ride back with us."

"What do you mean you're not in a position to?" Ruby asks me.

"I'm a little low on power right now." I rub my sore mouth. That'll clear up pretty soon. "Like you said, let's go." I leave the bedroom, leaving Sam and Ruby with no room to ask me further questions.

**Aww, look. An angel and a demon are getting along to save Sam's ass.

[sighs] Sammy, we love you, but stop doing stupid stuff.**