In the end, it was Jess who ended up praying to Gabriel. Jess who saw how Sam had frozen when he'd seen the angel's name. Jess who felt sad when she watched Sam sometimes. Jess who was the only one who suspected something.
She chose to do it late at night, when Sam was off studying something or another or reading. Jess was outside and she prayed. "Oh, God, if thou hearest me, let me speak plainly. I wish to speak with the archangel Gabriel. I have questions, and I believe that only he, or at least he, will tell me the answers I'm looking for."
It wasn't long after that she got her response. "So, I heard you have some questions."
Jess turned around to face the angel and smiled before pausing. "Hey, Gabe." She fidgeted for a second, trying to figure out how to segway into this conversation. "I didn't actually think you were the archangel Gabriel."
Gabe - Gabriel - smiled, though Jess could tell it wasn't a real smile. It didn't quite reach his eyes. "Well, you have to admit - there were things I did that I couldn't have done if I'd been human."
She shrugged. "You never know."
He looked at her. "Questions."
Jess cleared her throat. "Right. Just - gimme a minute here, Gabe." She looked down at where she was fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Am I dead?"
Gabriel looked up at her, surprised at the straightforwardness of her question. "Why would you think that?"
She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "Just answer the stupid question, Gabe. Please," she added after a moment.
The angel frowned, obviously wanting his answer first. "Not here, but yes. You're dead."
Jess nodded, feeling her eyes begin to water as the reality of her situation began to settle in. "Glad to know I was right about something." She rubbed at her eyes. "Oh, boy."
"How'd you figure it out?"
She laughed self-decrepitatingly. "Where do I start, Gabe? Dean's lonely, he only sleeps on one side of his bed - I only know cause Sam told me - and Sam swears up and down that Dean's always tried to take up as much of his bed as possible. Sam looks at me sometimes like he's not sure if I'm real or not. They're both afraid of their dad when I know he's never done anything to them. Mr. Winchester looks at his wife like she's a miracle. Sam looks at his dad sometimes and starts tearing up. There'll be a dog barking out of nowhere and Dean'll go pale like he's heard nails against a chalkboard. Sam and Dean can pick up guns, take them apart, and put them back together all within a matter of minutes. There'll be a weird news story going around and they'll think that the thing responsible isn't human." By the end of it, Jess was crying her eyes out. "And you ask me how I figured it out, Gabriel? Why don't you ask me something harder - like why haven't Sam and Dean figured it out yet?"
Gabriel was quiet for a long time. "Cas asked me for a favor."
"Who the hell is Cas?"
The angel was quiet again, like he didn't want to have this conversation. Jess wrapped her arms around herself again. "Cas is my brother. He's an angel too."
Jess frowned at Gabriel, confused. "Why would it matter that he asked you for a favor?"
Gabriel sighed. "Jess, where we come from, you're dead. You died, just like Sam and Dean's mother - that's why John Winchester looks at his wife Mary like she's a miracle and why Sam looks at you like you might not be real. John raised his boys like soldiers - there's why they can take guns apart and put them back together so quickly and why they look at him like they're afraid. John died - that's why Sam cries sometimes. Dean's been to hell - the first time he went, hellhounds killed him and ever since then he's been wary of them and that's why he freaks out about the dogs. Sam and Dean hunt the supernatural and that's why they think a weird news story might have been about something that isn't human." He looked up at her. "Cas - Castiel - he was tired. So, he asked for my help. A normal life for them, Sam with you, John with Mary, and Dean with Lisa."
"Lisa and Dean broke up forever ago," Jess replied, furrowing her brow.
"I know," Gabriel replied, frowning. "Who do you think's been trying to get them back together?" He huffed out a breath, crossing his arms. "I know why Dean broke up with her - doesn't mean that Cas'll believe me though. He keeps on thinking that they're going to get back together eventually." The angel looked at Jess again. "Why do you think they won't get back together?"
Jess smiled sadly. "Cause Dean doesn't love her. Sam and I had a long conversation with him after he broke up with her as to why he did it."
Gabriel half-grinned. "I'll tell you a secret - Sam from where I'm from knows too, even if he won't say anything about it. Dean and Cas are in love - it's kind of ridiculous how much they love each other. There's a huge amount of denial going around, mostly from Dean but some from Cas too, hence this favor."
The blonde nodded. "Why don't you just let Dean see Cas again and then see who Dean chooses?"
"If my life were that easy," Gabriel muttered. He suddenly perked up. "But my life is that easy." The angel looked at Jess. "What're you and Sam planning on doing tomorrow?" Jess shrugged and Gabriel grinned. "How about a walk through the city with Dean?"
Jess grinned too, her face still tear-stained and her eyes still red. "Alright, I think I can live with that."
"Hey," Jess greeted Sam when she got back to their tiny apartment.
Sam looked up, startled. "Hey. Where'd you go? I thought you were staying in tonight."
Jess shrugged. "I needed a walk to clear my head." He stood up, frowning. "What?"
"You look like you've been crying." Sam brushed Jess's hair out of her face. "Everything okay?"
She smiled at him, tired but not upset. "I'm fine, Sam. Go back to whatever you were studying. I'm gonna go shower and then go to bed." Jess went onto her tiptoes and gave Sam a peck on the lips before continuing into their bedroom. Just before she disappeared, she turned back around to where Sam was watching her. "I'm fine, really Sam." She grinned, giving him a little wave as she went into the bedroom.
Silently, Jess wondered how she had died.