Chapter 1
Jo jolted awake, gasping for air. She looked around, heart pounding, and was puzzled by what she saw. There was no 'light' or fiery pits, only a wide open field, bright with mid-day sun, and perfectly circular. Jo didn't know what to think. Was she, in fact, dead? Or had it merely been a bad dream. Jo could have sworn that, only moments before, she had been holding her insides in her hands, with her mother beside her, finger on the button that would cause the pipe-bomb beside her to go off, willing to die for the man she loved.
Something was off, and Jo could sense it. She rose shakily to her feet, noting that her wounds were fully healed. She spun around slowly, trying to come to terms with her surroundings. She had spun nearly all the way around, seeing nothing of importance, when she glimpsed a familiar brown trench-coat near the tree-line.
"Cas?" Jo called to the figure. "Castiel is that you?" The figure melded back into the forest, leaving Jo with more questions than answers. Was that really Castiel? Could it even have been him, and if it was, why didn't he answer her? She sighed, and turned around, only to bump into someone. Jo screamed, and the man laughed, catching her arm before she had a chance to jump back.
"Jo, it's alright, it's me, Cas," he chuckled. Jo looked up at the man's face and saw that it was, indeed, Castiel. She stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Am I… am I dead?" Jo asked quietly. "Oh, and why didn't you answer me before, dammit. You almost gave me a heart-attack back there." she pouted.
"It's complicated, and I wasn't sure if it was really you. If you haven't noticed, things are a little different around here," Cas responded with his usual expression of distaste.
"Oh yeah, and where is 'here' exactly?" Jo asked, throwing Cas' attitude right back at him. "Is this Heaven or something, 'cuz I could have sworn I was dead back there." she snapped. Castiel looked down, suddenly examining a blade of grass with such intensity, Jo could have sworn it was about to burst into flames. Jo's eyes widened. "It is Heaven isn't it." she murmured. "Which means… I really am dead after all…"
"I'm so sorry Jo, there was nothing I could do. Your time had come."
Jo stared at Castiel for a long time. It could have been hours before she whispered softly, "Where is my mother. If this is Heaven, and she's not here, then where is she?"
Cas sighed, "Your mother is fine little one, she has her own Heaven. But you Jo, you are special." he said, motioning to a spot just over her right shoulder. Jo's head slowly turned in that direction. Her mouth dropped. Her head snapped to the left, and she gaped over her other shoulder.
Shimmering in the sunlight behind Jo, was a pair of gorgeous silver wings.