~XXXIII~ – Angel vs. Demon

Nobody makes the first move right away. We watch each other, and I can't help but feel a little shattered inside. I'm peeved at myself for allowing a demon to get into my head and make me think that we were allies. That she played me all this time, and I had let my guard down.

I'm coming back, Sam. You may hate me for killing Ruby, but when I explain it to you, I know you'll forgive me. I know Dean will be ecstatic to know that she's dead. I will be too, even though it may hurt me a little to kill her.

After all, she's made an impression on me.

As soon as Ruby steps forward, like cats, we pounce for each other. We have some breathing room, the Holy Fire circle is bigger than I expect. Metal clashes against metal, and I put everything in my being into this fight. I have to. Ruby has given me no choice. It's either her or me, and I'll be damned if I let a demon walk out of here alive.

Initially, nobody gets a hit on their opponent. It's a mix of clashing weapons, dodges, blocks, and dancing away to avoid being sliced into by a very sharp blade.

Ruby gets the first strike: across my face. I hiss, reeling, off balance, towards the Holy Fire. I grimace, feeling the blood on the corner of my mouth.

"You're an angel?" she scoffs, rolling her shoulders. "I did a good job on you. I made you soft. You're not a warrior. What are you?"

"The angel who will kill you." I cry out, lunging for her. She elbows me in the face as I hit her in the gut. I hear her grunt, and I'm sure my blade got a small dig in her. Her head hits mine, and I'm launched onto my back. I roll to my left just as she tries to shove a knife in my neck. I need to end her, now. As I'm rising, Ruby hits me again, and this time, I can't save myself from the fire as it catches my face.

I scream in pain, kick away at her as I try to knock the fire out. I feel my vessel's flesh peeling off her one cheek. Using little Grace, I make sure to mend the wound. It's not healing as fast as I would like; my concentration is split right now.

"Not so powerful, are you?"

"You know, you talk a big game, Ruby," I state, swinging at her again. "Yet, I haven't seen any results from you."

"No results, huh? I slayed one of your friends," she sneers. "Here I am, about ready to kill another angel. Guess you made your kind nothing for me to fear."

"Give me the right time, and I'll make sure I put the fear of God into you." A hard blow to my face sends me reeling. I struggle as Ruby grabs my hair, forcing me to the ground.

"You talk way too much, Vera," she snaps. Using her free arm, she squeezes the one of mine that has the blade. I cry out, refusing to let go. I try even after I feel the snap of the bone.

Even for an angel, a bone breaking is very uncomfortable and painful.

"You're weak. Your kind must feel ashamed to call you one of them." She puts more pressure on the broken forearm, and with a loud cry, I'm forced to let go of the blade. I let the arm fall limp at my side but quickly use some Grace to start the healing process.

"I should kill you slowly," she mutters, drawing my own blade across my neck. The sting is white-hot, leaving a burning trail. "You know what? That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take my time, I'm gonna make you beg for me to end you."

"Was any of it real?" I cough.

Instead of seeing Ruby's cold look in her eyes, I see a faint trace of remorse. Which I didn't think was possible considering the bitch is trying to kill me at the moment. "Parts were. Parts were with Sam, too. But then I remembered what my real purpose here is. That I had to do any means to get the victory. You and Sam, you're pawns."

"You can't tell to my face that you didn't feel something...more than you're letting on."

"Oh, because you felt every bit of it?" Ruby sneers at me. "Your brief human period really made you sappy, V. I hate sap."

"You had your moments." I scream as she shoves me to the ground, on my back. She drags the blade along the not-broken arm, creating a long red gash. "I...I thought you were different."

"You said it yourself. You can't ever trust a demon."

"Sam did. I did."

"Well, look where you are because of it. At my mercy." She steps on the broken limb, and my screams grow louder. "Stupid angel. What did you think was gonna come out of that friends with benefits? Some real? Tangible? Love?" She gags. "You're gonna make me vomit just thinking about it."

"You can say all you want, but I don't believe that you didn't believe some it was real." I cough. The pain is white-hot the more she presses onto the broken bone. "Ruby, you don't have to do this."

"Of course I got to do this, Vera." She kneels, and I'm shaking from the pain. She traces my cheek with her fingers. "I'd hoped to corrupt you. When you lost your mojo, I thought God was working on my side. But then your friend got it back for you. I was so close." She pinches her fingers together. "You and I, we could have been something. I could have gotten you an in with Lucifer, V. You could've had a better place with him than you ever did with Heaven."

"I-I would never accept a-a-any offer the Devil would t-throw my way." I cough again. "I wanted to believe you were good, Ruby. I-I did."

"Well, the fact is, feathers, I'm not. You saw it from the start, but you lost your way. Now it's coming back to bite you." She sighs. "But I will admit one thing: I will miss our fun times. I will miss seducing you, because it was oh-so easy. I'll miss the flustered look you got every time you were two seconds away from pouncing on me."

My skin is breaking out into sweat, and hot tears sting the corners of my eyes. Ruby leans down to kiss me full on the mouth, and for a second, my pain disappears. But then it returns, and I feel it all over. Even in my heart. A place where no demon should have ever been in, but was.

And it was all because I was foolish.

I raise my head up to bash mine into Ruby's. Her head snaps back, and I feel my body forced to the ground by magic. "Ah-ah. You're already hurt enough. Wouldn't want to break this vessel even more, would you?"

"I hope they kill you when they find out," I say through a clenched jaw. "And I hope to God Sam is the one who puts you down. And I hope it's gruesome."

"They'll never find out, because I guarantee you they won't be alive once Lucifer is out." I feel the blade tip against my left breast. "Say your prayers, Vera."

I watch as she pulls my own weapon back, high in the air for me to clearly see. For some reason, I don't have it in me to fight back. Even if I do, she'll never stop. The pressure her magic has on my body forces it to go limp. I'm not strong enough to overcome this.

It feels like Ruby is making me suffering the longer I see the weapon held above my head. I look at her with a resigned expression. It's over. You won. Just end me. Sam, Dean, I am so sorry that I won't be able to help you. I hope you find out the truth before things become too bad.

Sam, I'm sorry I'm not coming back to you. I hope that you understand that I didn't want to leave you. I hope that you realize Ruby is a master manipulator and that you've been played, like I and I'm sure others have. I know you'll never hear this, because this doesn't work both ways, but, it makes me feel better.

Maybe, by some inkling of a chance, we might be reunited. But I really hope it's not because of death.

For a second, before the blade comes down on my heart, I swear I see Ruby have an inner conflict within her. When the blade strikes my heart, it's opened a new box of pain. It's like opening Pandora's Box in my skin, in my bones. I feel like hellfire is wrapping itself around me. I can't breathe, a white light is surrounding us. Ruby has to get away unless she wants my wings singed into her clothes, or her skin—

In my last few seconds, I think I hear "I'm sorry." But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I've imagined it. Maybe I want to believe that Ruby has some good—

White consumes me.

**If y'all can feel Vera's heartbreak just remember I felt it first so I totally understand.**