Resilience

Chapter 1

"She's the first trial."

"What? She's just a girl—"

"No, she's not. She's a Nephilim."

"What? A hybrid of an angel and a human? I thought that wasn't allowed."

"It isn't. She's the only one. If we want to shut down Heaven, we're going to have to rip out her heart."

"Staring at her isn't going to make this any easier."

Castiel ignored Metatron and continued staring at the young girl carrying out the garbage behind an old restaurant. He watched as one bag fell open, garbage pouring out. The girl let out a curse before bending over and picking everything up. Then, she stilled. She lifted her head and looked right at Castiel and Metatron, who were standing just across the street. Metatron quickly snapped his fingers and the girl returned to what she was doing.

"What did you do?" Castiel wondered, turning to look at Metatron. Metatron rolled his eyes. Castiel didn't trust him, not even a little bit.

"I merely made it so we blended in, Castiel. For now, anyway. We should get out of here—"

Castiel merely nodded before turning to look at the girl once more. She had finished gathering the trash and was walking back to the door. Sighing, the angel vanished along with his counterpart. He knew what he had to do.

Later that night, Castiel and Metatron stood outside the darkened restaurant and waited. And waited. Finally, around 11 o'clock, the girl exited the restaurant. She had a small grin on her face, clutching an envelope in her hands as she walked down the street. Castiel and Metatron waited no longer. They followed her down the street and through the park, until she came to an abrupt halt right underneath lamp.

What surprised Castiel was that she didn't turn around. Not at first, anyway.

"We know what you are," Metatron sneered, his dislike for her obvious, "Abomination."

The girl sighed before turning to face them, hands up.

"Look, I don't have much, alright? I'm just—"

"Oh, cut the boring, innocence speech," Metatron interrupted, nearly growling at her, "We know."

"I was going to say that I'm just a waitress. I don't have a lot to offer." the girl swallowed harshly, but to Castiel, she still looked confused. "You're both robbers, right? That's why you've been following me?"

Castiel felt for the girl. She seemed as if she really didn't know. That pissed Metatron off even more.

"Robbers? As if. Don't act like you don't know what you are," Metatron growled, glaring at her. The mere sight of the abomination was enough to get him angry, but she denied what she was which made him see red, "You disgust me, you little—"

The girl took a step backwards, eyes wide with fear as she lowered her hands back to her sides. She had put on a brave front, but both angels could see the fear in her eyes now. Castiel decided enough was enough. He had hoped maybe the girl would know of another way around this to close Heaven, but now that seemed unlikely. She didn't even know what she was. She didn't even know what they were.

"That's enough," Castiel interrupted, glaring at Metatron before turning back towards the girl, "We just want—"

"You think I don't know what you want?" The girl swallowed before glaring at them, "I just want to go home so please… be my guest. Take it. All of it. I don't care." She threw her purse on the ground, hands shaking as she folded her arms across her chest. Then, she threw the envelope on the ground with the rest of her stuff. A paycheck, Castiel realized.

"What?" Castiel narrowed his gaze at her. She really didn't know….anything.

"Please, just take it and leave me alone," She begged, voice cracking, "Please." She thought for a moment before adding, "Wait… did… did Trevor have something to do with this? Is this a prank or something?"

"This isn't about your boyfriend, you naïve girl—" Metatron groaned, running a hand through his hair in aggravation.

"Ex-boyfriend," She interrupted weakly, before adding, "If it's not, then what's this about?"

"Stop playing innocent—" Metatron yelled, face turning red as he got in her face. Which was an amazing feat, considering she had a good few inches on him.

"I'm not playing anything!" She yelled, voice shaking with fear, as she took another step backwards. "What the hell do you—"

"I can't listen to this anymore, enough of this. Castiel, kill her."

Castiel hesitated, looking between her and Metatron to gauge what the right decision would be. This girl was the key to his redemption. He had no choice, he told himself. He looked at Metatron and nodded. He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out an angel blade.

"I really am sorry." Castiel spoke softly.

"What? You're serious? You're going to kill me?" She squeaked, backing away, "I—"

"Oh shut up," Metatron was about to begin on another rant, until a bright light enveloped them all. When Castiel could finally see again, the girl was gone…. and Metatron was on the ground.

God, her head hurt. She felt as if she had gotten run over by a truck… and then backed over by that very same truck. Groaning, she blinked her eyes open. The bright lights caused her to quickly close them again. She let out a groan, putting a hand on her head to see if it was still attached.

"I see you're awake. That is a good sign."

Startled, she opened her eyes again and sat up on what seemed to be an air mattress. She looked around the room, seeing a woman behind a desk. She stood up, not wanting to show weakness in front of anyone, much less this total stranger. She had already lost her cool in what seemed to be the weirdest robbery ever. The woman smiled at her, gesturing to a seat that was a right in front of the desk. They were, apparently, in an office.

"Where am I?"

"Sit and we will—"

"Look, lady, I'm not doing anything until you tell me where the hell I am." She was pleased to note that her voice just barely shook as she spoke. The lady behind the desk raised her eyebrows at her, looking impressed, as she sat back in her chair.

"You're home."

"Excuse me?" When the lady hesitated, she continued, "Look, I think we have some sort of mistake here. I'm not from… wherever this is. I'm from Kansas."

"Technically." The lady smirked, as if she knew something that the younger girl didn't. "Listen, Luciana—"

"It's Lucy," She automatically corrected, rolling her eyes, but then she stilled. She began to backtracked, "wait, how the hell do you—"

"Welcome to Heaven, Lucy. We've been waiting for you."

"I'm sorry…. What? Heaven? Am I… am I dead?!" Lucy frantically spoke, mind going into overdrive as she freaked out. She wasn't even thirty yet, how could she be dead? "Those freaks in the park actually killed me? Oh. My. God. I can't—"

The lady stood up, making her way towards Lucy with a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry. Perhaps, I should've been clearer. You are alive. However, you are just—you are not going to faint, are you? You should sit down."

Lucy was pacing back and forth, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was in Heaven yet somehow… alive.

"Please just… calm down—" The lady put her hand on her shoulder, causing her to freak out even more.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled, backing away until she was in a corner. "I don't understand. You're….you're crazy. I want to go home."

So many cool points were being lost right now, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be curled up in her own bed, watching The Big Bang Theory. This actually felt like a dream. It had to be a dream because… seriously. The creepy guys in the park and now this office lady telling her that she was in Heaven.

The lady sighed, "This is going to be a lot harder than I anticipated." She moved to sit in front of Lucy. Lucy squirmed until she was the furthest she could possibly get from the lady without moving. "My name is Naomi. Do you remember what happened before you woke up here?"

Lucy thought for a moment before hesitantly nodding, "These… these two men came up to me when I was walking home from work. One was really short and really… bitchy. The other one was wearing a trench coat and hardly said anything." She noticed Naomi's faint smile at that before continuing, "The shorter one started yelling at me for something, but I don't know what I did to make him angry. I thought it was a robbery so I gave them my purse, but he was still pissed off at me—"

Lucy's head throbbed at the memory, causing her to reach up and put her head between her hands. Naomi briefly touched her and Lucy suddenly felt better. Not 100% by any means, because this lady was telling her she was in Heaven, but her head didn't hurt.

"I know you do not understand, but you will." the lady looked at her sympathetically, "I will explain everything, okay, but you must listen and not interrupt. Ok?"

Lucy eyeballed the woman, measuring to see whether or not she should trust her. Then she looked around the office. There weren't any doors. There was no one else there. She obviously had no other choice, but to trust this crazy lady.

"Okay."

"Are you okay? I know it's a lot to process."

Lucy stared at the wall in front of her, but she was unseeing. She leaned her head against the wall.

"So, you're telling me…. I'm something that's called a Nephilim." She hesitated, looking to Naomi for reassurance. Naomi nodded. "And I'm wanted by angels."

"And demons." Naomi added, "and basically anyone that wants to see what you can do and use it against their enemies. I am not going to lie. I am also curious as well, but I do not wish to harm you."

"What does that mean though? What I can do? I'm not… I'm not a freak, am I? Like, I'm not going to go psycho?" Lucy had seen way too many sci-fi movies where the most special people end up killing machines. They were a guilty pleasure.

"No," Naomi chuckled, "You are not a freak. I would classify you as… well… unique. You are the only one alive that is half angel and half human. Because of your genetics, it is likely that you have special abilities—"

"Great. So, I am a freak." Lucy muttered, closing her eyes briefly before reopening them, "Wait, what do you mean 'special abilities?'"

Naomi sighed, "No one is certain because, well, I hate to tell you this but relationships between humans and angels are strictly forbidden. If it is found that a human and an angel have conceived a child, they are exterminated as well as that child. You are not even supposed to have been born."

Lucy paused, internally analyzing that information before responding, "So, my biological parents are most likely dead." Naomi merely nodded. Lucy let out a bitter laugh, "Well, this day just keeps getting better. My real parents are dead, I am a supernatural freak, and I have all these people after me—wait, so that dude in the park? Metatran? What did he want? I mean, why was he so Hell bent on killing me?"

"Metatron," Naomi corrected, then added with a frown, "I am afraid so. He wants to shut down Heaven." Naomi quickly filled her in on the why before finally concluding, "He needs you because you are the first trial. He has to… rip out your heart."

"What a douche bag."

"I can not argue with that statement," Naomi smiled, half-heartedly, "but I am here to protect you. Well, sort of."

"Okay, Naomi, you're going to have to start making a little more sense and stop with these little half-truths you keep shooting at me. Spit it out, woman." Lucy leaned her head against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. She was drained—emotionally, physically—from this entire experience. She wished that she had never left work and had never found out about any of this.

"Okay, okay." Naomi rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smile that made its way to her face. She was definitely taken by this young girl. It was a shame she was going to have to hide her away. "You humans…"

"Technically, I'm only half. Apparently." Lucy shot her a sarcastic grin. There. Now she was acting more like herself instead of the wimp that had taken her over for the last couple of hours. Lucy felt calmer after that comment.

"I have to run things here, attempting to keep the chaos as minimum as possible. So, I am afraid I will not be the one actually doing the protecting. I am going to be sending you—"

"What? I'm leaving?" Lucy panicked, eyes wide, "Why can't I stay here?"

"Because this is the first place Metatron will look for you. He knows I saved you and will be bent on finding you. Needless to say, you need to be safe for both your sake and Heaven's. So, yes, I'm sending you to two of the most qualified people on Earth."

"Who?" Lucy asked, hesitantly. She was going to be entrusting these people with her life.

"Sam and Dean Winchester."

"You've got to be shitting me."

AN: Anybody like it? Let me know!