~XVI~ – Heaven and Hell

Alastair, Ruby, I, and the other demon find ourselves back in the barn, where Anna, Castiel, Sam, Dean, and Uriel seem to be in the middle of a discussion.

"Don't you touch a hair on that poor girl's head," Alastair threatens my brethren. Sam and Dean take note of Ruby and I. How long were we gone?

"How dare you come into this room...you pussing sore?" Uriel growls.

"Name-calling. That hurt my feelings...You sanctimonious, fanatical prick."

"Turn around and walk away now," Castiel orders.

"Sure. Just give us the girl. We'll make sure she gets punished good and proper."

"You know who we are and what we will do. I won't say it again. Leave now...or we lay you to waste."

"Considering I've got one of yours here, think I'll take my chances."

Ruby and I seem forgotten about as Alastair and the other demon begin to fight Uriel and Castiel. I find myself standing protectively in front of her, watching in distaste as Alastair uses my weapon against my brothers. Castiel tries to exorcise Alastair but fails. Meanwhile, Uriel successfully exorcises his opponent.

I run for Alastair when he begins to try and exorcise Castiel from his vessel. I tackle him at the waist, sending him off his feet and to the ground. I wrestle for my weapon desperately, which only gets me a punch to the face and thrown to the ground by Alastair. As I scramble, Dean goes behind Alastair and whacks him with a crowbar.

"Dean, Dean, Dean," the demon purrs. "I am so disappointed. You had such promise." I'm forgotten about, as he now focuses on the Winchesters. Holding my side, I get to my feet. My vision is a bit blurred.

I hear Uriel scream "No!" and I see why. Anna has snatched her Grace; it's bottled up in a vial on a necklace. She smashes the pendant, and the wispy Grace flows out.

"Shut your eyes," she commands. "Shut your eyes! Shut your eyes!"

I duck, covering my eyes. When the light disappears, Alastair has vanished, leaving behind Ruby's knife and my blade. I retrieve both weapons. Anna has also disappeared as well. Uriel, I, Castiel, Dean, Sam, and Ruby all remain.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" Dean snaps to my brothers. "Go get Anna. Unless, of course, you're scared."

"This isn't over," says Uriel.

"Oh, it looks over to me, junkless."

Uriel gives me a severe, lasting look before him and Castiel leave.

"You okay?" I hear Sam ask Ruby.

"Not so much."

"What took you so long to get here?" asks Dean.

"Sorry I'm late with the demon delivery. I was only being tortured."

"I got to hand it to you, Sammy. Bringing them all together all at once—angels and demons. It was a damn good plan."

"Yeah, well, when you got Godzilla and Mothra on your ass, best to get out of their way and let them fight."

"Yeah, now you're just bragging."

"So, I guess she's some big-time angel now, huh? She must be happy...Wherever she is."

"I doubt it."

"When did this plan happen?" I ask. "How come I wasn't aware?" I look at the three wildly. "I've been with you for how long now? That's not worthy of me being let in on the plan?"

"We didn't want to risk it being heard on the angel radio," Sam says, looking at me softly.

"I wouldn't have broadcasted the plan, Sam!"

"We didn't want to take the risk." He shrugs. "Sorry, Vera."

I snort. "I'll let you pass on this, because things worked themselves out."

"Okay, okay," Ruby says. "We get it, you're butt hurt. We'll try better next time. Come on, feathers. You and I need to scram some place to lick our wounds for a bit."

"Not together or each other's, I hope."

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Just, come on."

"If we need you—" Sam starts.

"You'll know how to reach me," I say.

"You good enough to teleport, feathers?" Ruby asks me.

"No."

"Good, cause I wanted to hotwire a ride and drive."

"Then I guess that's happening." I nod towards the Winchesters. "Until later, I suppose."

Ruby and I leave the barn, and it's a brisk temperature. Our luck, we find a car left with a FOR SALE sign in its window. Ruby hotwires it and we both get inside. The radio is fuzzy, but once we're on the road, the reception gets better.

I notice how beat up we both are. My wounds are starting to heal. "I can heal you, if you want."

"I heal on my own, thanks."

"Fine, then don't come asking me for this when you get yourself captured again."

Her eyebrows rise in surprise. "You think I let that happen? Let's get one thing straight here, I'm not a damn damsel in distress. I'm the fucking demon that people try to rescue those damn damsels from."

"Okay, point made." I hold my hands out in surrender.

"Really? Because I don't think it is. If I could, I'd kill you right now. Hell, I've had multiple chances to do so. The only reason why you're alive is because we share a common goal: shut Lilith down before it's too late."

I chuckle. "It's almost adorable, how you're trying to prove yourself to me."

"Oh, so you think I'm adorable, huh?" The anger is gone in her voice, replaced by something else, and a smirk.

Is that what I'm implying? "That's not what I was implying."

"Sure it wasn't. It's okay, I know I've got sex appeal."

I feel my heart flutter when she winks in my direction. What is this? It's bad enough I have a fragile trust with her (very fragile, but it's still trust), and she trusts me (enough to ask me to come save her, apparently). That connection is enough to put me into trouble.

"I tell you what, feathers. You and me, let's go celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"I don't know. Guess we don't need a reason to go out drinking, do we?"

"I-I guess not."

"Come on, poof us somewhere that's got the best damn French fries in the country!"

"I'm an angel, not your chauffeur." I cross my arms.

Ruby pouts. "Come on, pal." She nudges me in what I assume to be a playful manner.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not up to strength to do so. Besides, you're already driving. For once, let me rest."

"Is that even a thing with you guys?"

"Just drive."

* * *

"I'm telling you, you need an upgrade!" Ruby exclaims.

We were on the road for a bit, until we found a dive bar that Ruby insisted we stop at. It smells like a bar all right: full of greasy food, drunk people, sweaty people, alcohol, and sex. Seems like the "perfect" place to celebrate not dying and saving a fellow angel.

"An upgrade?"

Ruby downs more of her drink. She's already working on her second. "You know, change your style up a bit! Get more with the modern times. That's got to be annoying, having your hair that long and in your face all the time."

I shrug. "It hasn't disabled me from fighting."

"Still. You could always use a change. Hey, if you won't drink that, I'll down it."

The beer I have is an acquired taste, but that's according to Ruby. I can't taste the alcohol. It tastes like molecules. What do molecules taste like? Well, like you would expect them to taste like.

Molecules, obviously.

I'm aware of the liquid that pours down my throat, but there's no real taste. It's the weirdest thing. It does make me curious, though, what it actually tastes like.

"I'll take it." I hug the glass closer to me.

"Who would've thought it, huh, feathers? An angel and a demon sitting at a bar, having a couple of drinks like best friends?" Ruby snorts a laugh.

"You're intoxicated."

"Nah, I'm glad for this break. Aren't you?" She pouts.

I shrug. "I guess."

"That should be a yes, no guessing about it." Our order of chili fries comes, and Ruby pops two into her mouth, relishing the taste with a moan of desire. Her sound is almost borderline sexual, which makes me a tad bit uncomfortable. "Damn, and here I thought plain fries were the best damn food in the planet! This tops them!"

"You're easily pleased, aren't you?" I ask in amusement.

"Hey, when you're a demon and have been through what I have, you enjoy the small things in life way more."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Seriously, though," Ruby throws in more fries into her mouth, "you should cut your hair. Shorter length would give you some sex appeal."

"I'm not here for sex appeal."

"Yeah, yeah, can you forget the mission for one damn night, feathers, and enjoy? Here." She offers me a chili-covered fry. I sigh. Even though I know I won't taste the flavors, I appease Ruby and take it from her. She watches me expectantly. "It's awesome, right?"

"Why are we doing this?" I mutter.

"What?"

"This." I gesture to us sitting at the bar. "Having drinks like we're not natural enemies."

"Times are a-changing, feathers. Hunters ally with angels and demons, demons ally with angels now. I'm meaning you and me." She has a drunk smile on her face. "You got to trust me a little. Without me, you'd be so boring. Where would you have gone if I hadn't suggested this? Back to Heaven?"

"No way," I say a little too quickly.

Ruby's eyes widen in surprise. "Well, that's not what I expecting."

"If you haven't already noticed, I'm not like Uriel and Castiel. I'm not—"

"A mindless drone with angelic powers?"

"...You could phrase it like that." I clear my throat.

"Well, then the change in your looks should definitely happen! It'll show those winged bastards that they are nothing like you. That you are Vera, not a mindless soldier. Come on, let's toast." She holds up her glass. "To not being a drone."

I clink my glass to hers, and feel something stir inside of me. "To not being a drone."

**My babies just chilling at a bar.**