IV – Johnny Mac's Diner

I had felt the presence, so naturally, I gravitated towards it.

I'm in a place called Johnny Mac's Diner, in the middle of the night. The place is closed, but I can sense the bodies around. And they aren't human. I sniff the air.

Something's definitely gone on here.

I've entered from the back door. The kitchen smells of grease. The refrigerator hums quietly. My feet hit the checkered tile flooring quietly. I've got no weapon, so if I have to fight, I might as well be considered dead. My powers still don't feel up to par with how they normally feel.

As many might believe, it's wrong. It takes a while to regain your power back.

I hear a scuffle. Instinctively, I put a hand out, letting my eyes and palm glow faint blue.

"It's not nice to run," I murmur. "Show yourself."

"Damn it, feathers." Ruby slinks out from a corner, hands out in surrender. "You got me."

"What are you doing here?" I relax.

"Probably the same thing as you."

"Which is?"

"Investigating. No bodies to be found in here. I checked."

I lower my hand, letting the angel Grace in me settle. "Did you check out the diner itself?"

"Not yet."

My ears attune to it, the struggle on the other side of the kitchen doors. Ruby beats me to it first, leaving the kitchen. Through the darkness, I just catch Sam sending a demon through the diner floor, back into Hell, where it belongs. He doesn't acknowledge us, but I have a feeling he's not surprised by us being around.

"Getting pretty slick there, Sam," Ruby says. "Better all the time."

Sam stands, looking down at the corpse at his feet. "What the hell is going on around here, Ruby?"

"I wish I knew." She looks at me. "Anything you want to share with the class, Vera?"

"What makes you assume that I know things that you don't?" I retort.

"You're an angel, for starters. You're the black sheep, we just met you."

I meander through the kitchen, looking at the corpses. Their eye sockets are burned out, blood stains their faces. I know what's done this. This is an angel's work. They're after something, or just smiting demons for sport.

"We were thinking some high level demon pulled Dean out," Sam whispers.

I refrain from scoffing. High level demon, capable of pulling Dean Winchester out of Hell? What purpose would that serve the demon? Wouldn't they want to keep the elder Winchester in Hell?

"No way," Ruby insists. "Sam, human souls don't just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easy. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It's cosmic. No demon can swing that. Not Lilith, not anybody."

"Then what can?"

"Nothing I've ever seen before."

I didn't realize an angel was capable of such movements. Earthquakes? A bleeding sky?

"Any insight, Vera?" Sam asks me.

I look up. "Nothing comes to mind."

"You would know, though, wouldn't you?"

"You put a lot of faith into my knowledge when we've only just met."

"Well, there might be things that you know that we don't."

"Even if she did, she's not gonna open up about them," says Ruby.

Whose work is this? I think curiously, examining the bodies. It's not that an angel has a distinct method when it comes to smiting, it's all the same. But really, no angels have had business down on Earth, not until recently due to Lilith and her growing threat.

"So," I turn my attention to Ruby and Sam, who've sat themselves at a small table in the diner, "million dollar question: are you going to tell Dean about what we're doing?" is Ruby's question to Sam.

"Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it." Ruby gives Sam a look, and I find myself giving the Winchester brother a glare as well. "Look, I just need time, okay? That's all."

"Sam, he's going to find out, and if it's not from you he's going to be pissed."

"He's going to be pissed anyway. I mean, he's so hardheaded about this psychic stuff he'll just try and stop me."

"Look, maybe I'll just take a step back for a while."

"Ruby, you..."

"I mean, I'm not exactly in your brother's fan club. But he is your brother, and I'm not going to come between you."

"I don't know if what I'm doing is right. Hell, I don't even know if I trust you."

"Thanks."

"But what I do know is that I'm saving people. And stopping demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going."

"Well, then, that's your answer," I jump into the conversation. "You stick with it."

"Wow, for once she agrees," Ruby mutters.

"I also agree with him on the matter that neither of us trust you."

"I'm sensing you ganging up on me, feathers." Ruby gets out of her seat. "Since when did you suddenly become all teeth and claws when it comes to Sam?"

"If he wants to do something right, he needs to do with the proper support. You're not that."

"Oh, like you are? Just because you've got wings and a damn halo doesn't mean you're more trustworthy than I am."

I snort. "I beg to differ. Humans beg to differ on that too. And I'll prove it." I rub the back of my head, looking at Sam carefully. "There're a few things I need to discuss with you."

"Oh, sorry, do you want me to make myself scarce? Because I won't."

I pinch the bridge of my nose, ignoring Ruby's snark. "To end the mystery, Dean was rescued by an angel. Who specifically, I don't know. All I know is that I heard it, clear as day. 'Dean Winchester is saved.' Over and over again, like all the voices in the world were talking at once."

Sam looks at me in disbelief, and the look on Ruby's face is smug. I ignore her and focus on Sam.

"So...you knew?" he says quietly, getting out of his seat. "You knew Dean was alive and didn't think to tell me?"

"You wouldn't have believed me if I had," I insist.

"I might've."

"No, you wouldn't have." I cross my arms over my chest. "Because you're a man with trust issues. Which you have every right to have."

"You don't know a damn thing about me."

My eyes narrow. "I'm a quick study in some things, Samuel."

"I don't believe it." He rubs his eyes in frustration. "You sat back and said nothing about this? Are these demons dead because of angels too?"

"Well, the one isn't—"

"Vera."

"Yes, this is an angel's work." I clear my throat. "Not mine, before you go accusing me."

"Great, so more winged freaks are running around," Ruby groans. "It's confirmed. Just freaking wonderful."

"It's obvious why. I don't need to say her name."

"Is she the reason why Dean was resurrected?" asks Sam.

"It's possible. I'm not exactly tuned to all angel radio channels. Sam, I'm sorry..."

"No, you're not."

I look at him, aghast. "I wouldn't apologize if I wasn't sorry, Samuel."

"I think maybe you and Ruby both should split."

"Hey, I had plans to anyway, if there're more than her running around," Ruby chimes.

"Sam—" I try.

"I'm serious, Vera," he says sternly. "And here I thought you were gonna turn out to be a lot of help. Guess I was wrong."

I feel massively offended right now. "You want me to keep out of your way? Fine. I will. But, should you need me, because I'm sure you will need me at some point, all you have to do is call, which in your case is prayer. I'll listen, and I'll find you.

"Just, when you do call for me, don't let it be for me to be summoned to my death." I look at Ruby. "Demon."

"Feathers," she says in the same monotone that I just gave her. "See you maybe never."

I poof myself away before things escalate further.

**I don't know why, but Ruby and Vera's interactions have always intrigued me.

So as you've noticed, I altered things a bit slightly. But I tried to keep true to the plot-line of season 4 especially in the beginning. 

Thoughts on Vera so far? Yay? Nay? Indifferent?**