Hannah walked through a bright meadow, birds sang in the trees and butterflies fluttered past, stopping to land on nearby wildflowers. As she walked, she ran her hands in the tall grass, sunshine warmed her shoulders, the meadow seem familiar somehow. She suddenly threw her hands in the air and spun around, joy radiated from her body and exited her body in laughter. She laid down in the tall, sweet smelling grass, spinning a daisy between her fingers. As the clouds passed over head, shouts began to fill the air. The voices of two men were good naturally fighting about what kind of bird had recently flown past. Hannah sat up and watched the Winchester brothers as the walked, tramped, through the meadow. They were relaxed and simply enjoying themselves. Soon Cas joined the brothers and began a history of the how swallows build their nests in barns and how that signifies how humanity live in different nests but we all live in the same barn. Hannah smiled, not really listening to the explanation of how that worked and simply laid back down, listening to the laid back conversation of the men. There was nothing here that could hurt them, her guys were safe and they could let their guard down and simply relax. This was heaven.
She didn't worry about time, it didn't matter here, but soon a gentle breeze began to sway the tips of the grass and caused the men's voices to be carried away. Hannah frowned, not at the lack of the men's conversation, but at the odd, faint sound, that murmured incomprehensible words. The soft wind continued to weave in and out of the meadow, wrapping itself around Hannah, and she felt the presence of someone near her. She sat up at looked around, but only saw the brothers and Cas in the distance. Again the breeze folded itself around her and a presence was felt, but this time when the wind whispered, Hannah could understand the words.
"Do not fear, it is I, your Father. My Daughter you are here to fulfill a purpose, you must not forget that." The breeze carried the words, God was in the still, small voice.
"My Father, they are so at peace, must I disturb them?" Hannah glanced up, not knowing where else to look.
"Daughter, it is not really them, the true Winchesters are still down on earth, grieving your departure, this is only a wishful dream that Heaven created for you."
Hannah glimpsed over at the men, she knew it couldn't be reality, they would never be this carefree.
"What must I do?"
"You must find Castiel's grace. Metatron has it in the center of Heaven, you must take it. Open the jar and allow the grace to enter into you, this will permit you to return to earth and restore Castiel. But beware, Metatron will be watching the vial, you must be careful." The wind picked up and started to blow her heaven away, leaving behind a four story office building.
The building was a nearly blinding white, with blue tinted windows spaced evenly around the the front and two large double doors were in the center of the first floor. Hannah glanced around and not seeing anyone, threw on a confident looked and marched into the building. The inside was just as white a the out and a pureness filled the air, but she could feel the dark under pull of corruption. The lobby was empty, as was every hallway that she wandered down. When she finally found an elevator she noticed that there were five floors to choose from.
"In the center of Heaven." she mused out loud and pushed the third floor knob. She felt no movement as the small room ran up the lights, signifying the changing of floors. The doors opened and a long hallway with many doors on either side greeted her. She stepped out and tried to get her bearings, where would the center of the building be? She felt a slight breeze coming from the hall on her left and decided that was a good direction as any and began to follow the source. She turns and twisted through so many corridors she knew she would never find her way back, she was also beginning to think that the inside of the building was much larger then the outside. As she walked the feeling of a darkness, an impending doom grew and built the longer she followed the slight gale.
Hannah turned a corner and a large door faced her, she could feel the wind as it whispered across her bare feet from under the door. Very slowly, she opened the room's entry, peeking around the thick wood to see in. The room was empty and sparsely furnished. A desk with a chair, a few built in bookshelves and what looked like a dentist's chair sat in the middle of the room. But what the room lacked in decoration it more then made up for in misconduct. The dark aura of the room was overwhelming, she could feel the very walls screaming against the practices that had taken place there. It was as if a cloud of despicable actions had settled in the once pure center of Heaven.
Hannah wished she had never come, but a soft breath of wind caressed her cheek.
"Do not forget your purpose." The small still voice of God reminded her that she was here for a reason. Stepping into the room Hannah walked passed the chair, past the desk and stood in front of the large, center bookcase. Set, on the middle shelf, was a small bottle holding the swirling blue grace of an angel. Slowly, she carefully took the tiny container in her hand and as she brought it close to her face to look at it, the door of the office flew open.
"What are you doing?" Metatron stood in the doorway, glaring at the woman who dared to enter his domain.
"Open the jar." Hannah felt the instructions rather then heard them. Without taking her eyes off the angry angel, Hannah uncorked the vial and felt as the angel's grace entered her body. Hannah felt her body fill with a holy and pure light, a sense of familiarity consumed her as Cas's graces filled her every cell, but even though the grace was familiar it was not calming, this grace knew it did not belong to her.
"No!" Metatron rushed at her, but a strong gale blew between the two and the voice told Hannah to imagine that she was down on Earth. Following her orders Hannah was intently taken to a rural part of the planet she had imagined. She glanced around and thought of the motel where she had left the Winchesters and Cas. In just a blink of an eye she was hovering in the room with the Sam and Cas. Her dead body lay crumpled on the bed, blood was still barely seeping out of the wound. Hannah glanced through the walls and saw Dean leaning against the outside wall, fists against the building, head on his fists and an empty bottle of whiskey on the ground. It was then that Hannah felt the presence of another celestial being. She turned toward the room that held Sam and Cas and saw Metatron.
"I know what your trying to do and it wont work." He came toward her as she settled on the ground. Metatron was in his vessel as he walked toward something that Sam couldn't see. From outside Dean heard the voice of the angel and rushed into the doorway and stopped, unsure what was going on. Cas stood by Sam, neither moving, every muscle in their body tense as they watched Metatron.
"You should not have cast out the angels, but I shall restore them." Hannah could see Cas looking between the two of them, understanding what they were both saying, but the Winchesters could not hear Hannah speaking, but neither did her voice screech and pain them as Cas's had.
Metatron took another step toward her, "You did well on the first two trials I'll give you that, but you can't complete the last one if Castiel is dead." He pulled out an angel blade an turned toward Cas, instantly Hannah was in front of him, her angelic body between the angel and the man, protecting Castiel. She felt as if she was growing larger, stretching herself to guard Cas, the sensation was odd, but it was as she had done it before. The other angel stepped back, eyes wide and he dropped his blade.
"You will not harm Castiel."
Cas's eyes too had grown in wonder and astonishment was written on his face.
"What is it?" Dean called from across the room, his blade ready. His inquiry was ignored as Metatron took a different tactic.
"Hannah, do you realize that if you restore Castiel's grace to him he will forget his time being human?"
Hannah faltered.
"It's true, he won't remember a thing, not his job, not the house, not even you."
Hannah felt herself grow small, "Your lying." This can't be right, the price she paid was her life, she died, that was the cost, but not this, please not this.
"I swear on my grace, if you restore him, he will forget you." Metatron watched as his words torn through her, she hadn't known. "But if you stop the trials now, I can heal your body and you can go back to the way it was, you can be with him again." Metatron walked over to her body and healed the fatal wound. "It's all ready for you, all you have to do is release the grace and slip back into you body and you can have you life back."
Hannah looked over at her body, she looked back at Cas. Pain and conflicting was written deeply in his eyes. He will forget, he wouldn't love me, I would lose him. Hannah felt a soft breeze and took a step toward Cas. It's has to be done, this was the purpose.
"If you do this you will lose everything." Metatron took a cautious step.
"Hannah don't, it doesn't mater any more. Don't do this, I would rather be human then lose you." Cas backed away from her as she moved toward him. "Hannah stop! It doesn't matter anymore, don't do it. Go back into your body and let my grace go, I don't want it, I want you."
She paused, uncertainty and hope wrestled in her, she could go back, she didn't have to lose him, but could she deny the other angels because of what she wanted? Could she doom them to an eternity as mortals?
Dean heard Cas's pleads and was taken back to the night that he stopped Sam from completing the closing of Hell, Cas was doing the same thing, he was choosing family over everything.
Cas was against the wall, Metatron was shouting at Hannah making threats about not allowing her to go back into her body if she did this, the brothers watched Cas and Metatron argue with the woman they couldn't see, waiting to see what would happen, while Hannah walked toward Cas.
"Hannah, please, I don't want to lose you." Tears had formed in Cas's eyes as he pleaded with the woman he loved. He could see the struggle in her eyes, the fight she was having with herself, but behind it all was determination.
"I don't want to lose you either, but Cas, it's the right thing. All the trials have been about sacrifice, why would this one be any different. I love you." Hannah leaned forward, touching her forehead to his, and tried to give him peace. "I forgive you."
Tears spilled out of his eyes, and Hannah blew Castiel's grace back into his body. Light filled the room as Castiel was restored, black wings projected on the wall behind him and great light surged from his body, shooting out across the land restoring all of the fallen angels. As the light filled the room Hannah felt herself being filled as well, her own grace filled her, then a small soft voice whispered in her ear as a breeze tickled her neck.
"Go, enter back into you body, you have done well my daughter."
Hannah glanced back through the light at her body laying on the bed. She floated over and slipped back in and as the light faded, she took her first large breath.
Metatron took a few threatening steps toward Hannah before she heard him called up to heaven and he disappeared. She sat up and looked around, the Winchesters were blinking wildly trying to understand what had just happened, then they noticed Hannah sitting up. Cas gazed around at his surrounding, confused at where he was. Hannah stood and walked over to him.
"Cas?" She tentatively called looking for the man she had fallen in love with.
"Only Dean calls me Cas. Who are you? Why am I here?" He was gone, her Cas was gone. Castiel saw the blood on his shirt and that on the woman before him. He took a threatening step toward her as she backed up, heartbroken.
Sam jumped forward, "No, Cas, she's a friend of ours. She restored the angels."
Cas stopped, restored the angel? Restored then from what? What had happened to them? None of what Sam said had meaning to him, he was unconvinced.
"I am not sure I believe you."
Hannah felt her heart rip in two, it was true, he didn't know who she was. She motioned toward the door and retreated into the open air. She leaned against the brick wall, anguish flooded her, tears formed and left silent trails of misery down her cheek. Dean walked up next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up and sought refuge in his arms. she held the flannel over shirt in an attempt to stay standing, she buried her face in his chest as sobs over took her and shook her weary frame. Dean wrapped his arms around her, holding her up and holding her close. She was alive, but in such pain, such sorrow. He wished he could take it away, take in on himself and save her from this agony. He held her and let her cry.
"He doesn't remember." Her muffled sob choked out against his chest, was like a knife to Dean's heart. He held her closer, compensating as she shifted, but not releasing his protective hold. As she stood there crying in his arm, as he held her, clutching her to him, Dean realized that he loved her. He was completely in love with Cas's heartbroken woman.
Ok, so you know what to do now :)
