She held her neck tight, trying to keep the blood and air and the last of her light in. She had to get away. Had to get away now.
"Go ahead and run. It's all useless now" The one she had once loved so much, the one who she had trusted so much and put her faith in, now taunting and laughing at her panic.
"I believe in humanity" She gasped defiantly, jumping back as they lunged at her again. Even as her sight darkened and blurred, she could still see just enough to avoid the flashes of silver as she tripped and fell. Something hit her on her side and threw her a couple of feet in the air before she hit the ground hard. Her side hurt, her throat hurt, her arm hurt and now there was people screaming and hands on her shaking her shoulder
"Hey, lady, you ok? Someone call an ambulance! Don't be dead"
"Who was that?" Sam glanced up from the book he was studying for a moment to watch Dean walk back into the room. He had his chair balanced on the back two legs while holding himself in place with a foot resting on the table
"Sheriff Mills. She thinks she has a case for us at a hospital over in Denver" Dean shrugged on his jacket and started collecting the basics for the job and finishing his cup of coffee in one go
"You gonna share?" Sam prompted as he scribbled a note on a piece of paper in his lap
"Jane Doe, amnesiac, randomly showed up in the middle of the road and got hit by a semi"
"And this is us because, what, she survived getting hit by a truck?" Sam rolled his eyes and sat his chair down on the ground. Dean ignored him and walked down the hall to his room
"Cause she got out of it with a broken arm, totaled the front, and even though she can't tell you who she is or where she's from, she can speak at least 5 different languages" Dean called from his room. "And, get this. She's evidently been talking to people in their native language without even asking them what it is. She just magically knows"
Sam nodded as he noted his page and stretched out his back, rubbing his hands through his hair before standing. "So what's the plan? Doesn't exactly sound like a demon or anything bad"
"She said that Bobby told her to call us. That we should put her up in here till we figure out what's going on" Dean came back into the room and tossed his bag on the table. "Figured we say we're family or something. Get her checked out and bring her back here"
"So how're we doing today?" A happy, round faced nurse asked as she entered, bringing stuff that the hospital swore was food but she had yet to be convinced and a small cup of pills.
"I do not like you. I do not like your face. You are evil." She huffed in Vietnamese, crossing her arms the best she could with one being in a cast, and looking away from the nurse. Her eyes flicked black as she glared back, glancing over the woman's chart.
Jane Doe (Luna). 5'5. Caucasian. Dark brown hair, blue eyes. Comminuted fractures to the right radius and ulna, amnesia, psychiatric break (claiming to be an angel, distortion of faces, obsession with the moon). Psychiatric hold UFN. BP, HR, O2: normal.
The nurse shrugged, looking at the hundreds of sketches of the moon that covered her bed before pushing them unceremoniously off the side and putting the meal table over her
"Look Luna, I don't know who you are, but you better damn well like me. I know what you are and could have killed you the minute you showed up. But I don't feel like rocking the boat any more than it already is rocking, lady"
"My name is not Luna. Why does everyone continue to call me such? And we are not on a boat" She replied in Vietnamese again
"Would you just shut it!"
"Hey, there's our cousin! You gave us a scare with that truck" Dean walked straight into the room like he owned the place, pushing past a few of the other nurses who were trying to slow him down. Sam was right behind him offering hollow apologies, babbling some story about how they hadn't seen each other in a long time and that they'd straighten everything out in a bit.
"I do not know you. I have no cousins" The fallen angel tilted her head to the side. "Who are you?"
"Sam and Dean Winchester. This day is just getting better and better" The nurse grinned, her eyes turning black once more as she locked the door behind the brothers. Cursing, Sam quickly begins to recite an exorcism, stuttering miserably as he tries to block the demon's attacks. The angel, who was cowering in the corner Dean had dragged her to standing guard over her, jumped suddenly as a memory effectively snapped into place. Pushing past the man as if he wasn't there, she grabbed the possessed nurse by neck and pinned her to the wall, reciting an exorcism herself in enochian. The demon's mouth and eyes glowed for a moment before they both collapsed to the ground, the demon dead and the angel unconscious from exertion.
She woke up two hours later disoriented and within a moving contraption she didn't recognize. She flailed for a moment until someone grabbed her arms and carefully but forcefully held them against her side
"Hey, Luna, calm down. I'm Sam. You're in a car. We're taking you somewhere safe, away from demons" Sam smiled next to her, slowly raising his hands and pulling them away to show that he meant no harm
"My name is not Luna" She whispered, wincing at the dull ache in her broken arm. "What happened? Why am I not in the hospital?"
"You killed the demon that was acting like a nurse and then passed out" Dean piped up from the front, glancing up in the rearview mirror. "Good on ya back there. That was pretty sweet"
"I do not like killing" She looked out the window, craning her neck up to see the sky. Even though it was mostly covered in clouds, she still knew where the moon should be located which she took comfort from. It was one of the few things she could still remember.
"So, uh" Sam cut in quickly, trying to get the conversation back on track, "Your charts at the hospital said that you claimed to be an angel, but you don't really remember anything"
"I am. I am an angel of the Lord. I was cast out for believing in humanity" The fallen angel stated before faltering, her face twisting in confusion as she tried to remember more "And my brother did not save me"
"Do you remember his name?" Sam prompted after a moment of silence. She shook her head
"No."
"That's real helpful" Dean muttered as Sam hit the back of his head
"He always liked humanity." She said after a while, becoming animated once more as a few more memories slid into place "He would bring me here now and again to show me your new tricks. He was so proud when you learned fire. My brother and I were born on a Thursday" She looked over at Sam and grinned, proud of herself for remembering something. She was just like Castiel when he returned to earth after the Leviathan, Sam noticed with an uneasy smile. So why was she here, now, without any clue of what is going on?
The brothers looked at each other through the mirror and realized they were both sharing the same thoughts. Nodding slightly to one another, Dean hit the gas. Cas, he prayed silently, you better get your feathery ass over here. I think we have one of your sisters, and she's hurt pretty good.
Everything was white. Too white. Fake white. She couldn't move her body even as her head fell to her chest.
"Think we should get her inside?"
"Might as well"
There was blood on her clothes. She couldn't get enough air. The light was hers. She couldn't lose it. Her neck hurt. Her body hurt. She couldn't move.
"Hey, come on"
Something was grabbing her. Shaking her. She tried to cry out but she couldn't make a noise. Just bloody foam in her throat.
"Go ahead, I'll get her"
"Go ahead and run"
Luna woke with a start, grabbing the hand on her shoulder to shove him away. Her strength was leaving fast so she could do nothing more than push Sam slightly off balance as she scrambled away from him. Closing her eyes, she tried to fly away from this new cage but was only able to get a few feet away before slamming into the cement wall around the compound and collapsing onto the ground in a new wave of exhaustion, pain shooting through her back. Curling into the fetal position, she whimpered as she heard the brothers running towards her
"Shit, Luna, you alright? What happened?" Sam yelled, pulling the fallen angel up from the ground to rest against the wall
"Please stop. Please" She begged desperately, grasping her throat and writhing in pain. She was becoming weak, extremely weak, and she began to hyperventilate
"Hey, hey. It's ok. I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to wake you up" Sam hugged Luna to his chest and tried to calm her down. Dean watched the two of them as he ran a hand through his hair nervously
"Come on, Luna. You're safer inside. Only our friends know about this place. No one'll hurt you, I promise. I can, uh, I can get you some stuff to draw with. Would you like that?" Dean offered as he knelt down in front of them and took her hand away from her neck. Luna nodded slowly and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, following numbly until she was sat on a couch and a glass of water in her hands. She sipped at it to wash the memory of blood from her mouth before she began to speak hardly above a whisper
"I can remember parts. I was never a warrior. I studied to be a healer, but I was not very good so I was assigned to other duties. For a time I studied under the Scribe, but I was reassigned to the galaxies shortly after. Brother was the warrior, assigned when we were older to a garrison on earth. But whenever he would come back, I could never heal him and he would always leave and do it himself. In peace he would bring me to earth to see the wonders of this planet. He always preferred the Neanderthals and their poems, but as his twin I always chose you Sapiens. Their battle, their pride and sureness always reminded me of him. So when the Neanderthals died out, I begged my superior to cast their poems into the stars for all to see, that maybe it would be something that I could do right for him. He was so happy. Told me to never worry, that he would always protect me.
"And then this war came to Heaven. We were ordered to choose a side. We were either with Heaven or we were with Humanity. Father had commanded us to love humanity, but how could we turn our backs on our brothers and sisters? My brother, he told me to run. To hide, to not worry. That he would protect me. And I believed him. I hid among my brothers and sisters and ran when I could. There were so many who died. So much death.
"And then I was found. Commanded to choose a side. I was afraid; I did not know what to do. Brother was not there like he said he would be, and I had never fought before. So I did what I thought my brother would do. I chose humanity"
"And you were cast out" Sam spoke up after a moment, glancing up to Dean who stood in the doorway with the promised drawing supplies. Dean took the momentary pause to set the sketch pad and pencils down in front of Luna and to sit across from her. She smiled her thanks before nodding at Sam. When she began speaking again, her voice was even softer than before, forcing the brothers to lip read to understand what she was saying
"They took my grace. As punishment for running. They said that if I had stood up for my beliefs, then I would have been put down not unlike humanity does with an animal that has outlived its usefulness. But now I was to be used as an example to all who believed like me. Who put faith in our Father to come rescue us. To prove that Father was gone and that he no longer cared about his own children. To show that not even my brother would save me. I was able to escape with a few fragments left, but they are broken. They took his name from me. I am losing my powers."
"Dean. You said you knew where one of my sisters is. Where is she?" Castiel demanded as he appeared behind the couch, causing Luna to shriek and fall off the edge she had balanced herself on. Castiel moved quickly to see to the woman who had fallen before freezing. "Levanael?"
She looked at him confused as she carefully sat up. "Esiasch?" Levanael gasped in recognition, scrabbling to her feet to throw herself into Castiel's arms and holding tight to his chest. He hugged her just as hard in return before holding her at arm's length, worry crossing over his face as he placed two fingers on her forehead. Her cast disappeared in a flash of light before he rested a hand on her chest, his eyebrows knitted in confusion and fear
"You have been injured. We must take you back home" Castiel replied quickly in enochian without fully realizing it, leaving Sam and Dean to stare at them in awkward confusion
"But we cannot. I have been cast out. They will kill me if we return" Levanael explained, her hands continuing to hold him in place
"Then I will protect you" Castiel's voice turned dark as his eyes began to glow with fury, his sword materializing in his other hand. Dean yelled out a warning as some of the light bulbs surrounding them began to burst, but it was lost of the angelic siblings
"No, please. Brother. I beg of you, do not do this. Do not war for me" Her eyes began to fill with tears, her hands quickly grasping his wrists and shaking them. "Brother, why were you not there for me?"
Castiel's sword dropped from his hands in shock. After a moment he raised his hands to either side of her face and offered a sad smile. "Forgive me, Levanael. I should have never left your side. But your grace is weak, it is failing"
"You promised me you would protect me."
"I am sorry, sister. I am so sorry" Castiel whispered, hugging her tight to his chest again. Dean could have sworn Cas looked like he was about to cry
"I stood by what you always taught me. What I believe. That humanity is worthwhile. I stood by humanity when they asked me. I did what you would have done, and I was punished. To become what I have chosen"
"You fell because of me?!" Castiel roared in his true voice, causing all three of them to cover their ears and cower from the onslaught of shattering glass. Castiel faltered, stepping back in fear as his sister scrambled back and into Sam's arms
"That's enough Cas!" Dean yelled, grabbing his friend's arm and forcing him into another room, slamming the door behind them.
"What were you speaking in?" Sam asked after a moment of awkward silence, both of them looking towards the wall that was muffling Dean and Castiel's yelling voices
"Our first tongue. Enochian. I have been told that I speak to everyone in their first language. I do not know why though"
"What were you talking about?"
"Brother wants to take me home. I told him that we will be attacked if we do and that I do not mind becoming mortal."
Sam nodded slightly before freezing in shock, about to question her when the door smashed into the wall and Dean stormed through the room, kicking a chair out of the way to splinter against the wall before grabbing his keys
"Where are you going?" Sam asked, motioning for the others to stay where they were as he ran to catch up with his brother who was taking the stairs two at a time
"Out. We need some fucking light bulbs." Dean growled before slamming the next door in Sam's face. They both looked back at Castiel who was seething as well in the doorway
"Cas,"
"Not now Sam. Levanael," Castiel started, walking to her side and reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder
"Brother, please," She whispered, stepping back from him to look up with tears in her eyes. "I do not even remember your name"
Castiel looked over her for a moment, nearly every range of emotion he had ever felt flickering through his mind before he settled on acceptance. He nodded slightly as his hand slid down her arm; guiding her back to the couch and sitting close beside her. "Castael. Show me your wings. Allow for me tend to them while I tell you everything"
"Won't that blast out everything? Showing a part of her true form?" Sam questioned nervously
"No. I am one of the lowest level angels." Levanael explained as she carefully unfurled her broken wings. The main bone structure was still intact, but there were a number hairline fractures in the smaller bones and many of the feathers had been broken or bent in her panicked escape from the car. "In your history, the stories of many seeing angels with wings that looked like birds, those are angels of my level. We tended to stay at home, but we would be assigned certain tasks on earth, and we were granted permission to show our wings so that they would know that it was Father who had spoken"
"It takes some energy, some of our grace, to keep our wings hidden. It is no different than the energy it takes for you to sit up. But as she is already weakened, I do not wish for her to use any more than what she must" Castiel explained as he passed his hands over the bones to set them properly. He then began to straighten the worst offending feathers, fixing some that had been bent at odd angles while carefully removing others that were simply too mangled to be saved.
Sam was only vaguely aware of the fact that they had begun speaking to each other in hushed tones, and of the fact that his mouth was hanging open which was extremely rude. From their experiences, Sam had always assumed that angel wings were white, and then were seared black from the explosion that follows an angel's death. But now he could see that they were nothing like he could have ever imagined. They were almost like a parrot's wing in that every level of the feathers were a different color, and Levanael's started with a lavender purple at the top, then a light robin's egg blue, then a rich deep evening sky blue, to end in silver. Once Castiel had gone through and corrected the worst of the damage, he began with the wing closest to him and began to go over feather by feather. He ran each one through his fingers to realign any barb that was out of place before carefully nesting it back into its proper place and moving on to its neighbor. It vaguely reminded Sam of when he and Dean were children and Dean would wash his hair for him, taking care to not get any of the suds in his eyes. Gathering his wits back around himself, he forced himself to go back outside the bunker and wait for his brother to get back. Hopefully he would have calmed down by then and they could talk
