I own a sock, not a pair just a sock. Not supernatural or teen wolf.
"So your summer has been ok then?"
"Yea, lots of helping Scott with his summer assignments, doing my own summer assignments, torturing dad with health food, using your computer to torrent porn..."
"That last part better be a joke funny man. I have done a hell of a lot to that computer to keep it from viruses. Not to mention you have your own computer for that, I would know, remember when I walked in on you that one night..."
"Ok ok ok point taken, no need to reminisce on horrible memories that should be stricken from my brain forever."
"Your brain? I walked in on you, I should be the scarred one!"
"You should have knocked!"
"I did, twice. You had your earphones in, remember?"
"Oh yea. Ok, you win. And no, I haven't been putting porn on your computer, though I have been going through Origins, you have some pretty good mods on there. So how are things on your end? Meet any interesting people?"
Ashley pauses before answering, trying to figure out how to, then smiles. "You could say that. A lot of weirdos on the road, and I basically assume half if not all of the people I meet are mass murderers."
"Probably for the best. You have a nasty little habit of seeing the good in assholes. Good thing Gwaine is there, he can help protect you from most of them. Anyway, I gotta go, dad just got home, and I gotta make sure he isn't hiding candy again. Later cuz."
"Later." As she hangs up the phone she sighs, leaning her head back on the car she is sitting on top of. Most of what she had told Stiles was true in a way, only instead of probably, most of them were in fact murderers. And traveling with the Winchesters met she was going to meet all sorts, most you actually wanted to kill them, with her just being a bonus. And yes, Gwaine was in fact a great help. He had a good sense of good and bad guys, and helped them track a few in fact.
And the rest of the people she had met through them...well, most of them were demons. Just the other day she had met one named Crowley, who lived in a mansion very lavishly. He was one of the more interesting ones she had gotten to meet, considering most of the others had been trying to capture Sam or kill Dean. She was lucky to even get to meet him, as she had been part of the distraction to get into said mansion, her and Jo both. Unfortunately while keeping watch, one of the demons nabbed her and dragged her to see Crowley with the boys.
For a demon, he didn't seem that bad. He made jokes, he killed the demons that had nabbed her and the boys for some reason...and he apparently wanted Lucifer dead as much as they did. He even gave them what they had came for, the Colt, so they could shoot the devil. She was the only one, however, to notice one little thing that Dean didn't when he handed it over.
"Hey Dean, don't we need.."
"Hold on a minute."
"But.."
"I said hold on! Cripes we are talking to a freaking demon here, we can talk about the rest of the plan later!"
Ashley lifted an eyebrow at him and rolled her eyes, grabbing the gun as Sam attempts to shoot Crowley. He looks wide-eyed at her."What the hell?"
He then realized that nothing came out when he shot the gun, and looked at Ashley confused."What the hell? What just happened?" He looks over at Dean, who just shrugged, looking just as confused as him.
"And you two lumberjacks are the scourge of demons everywhere? I expected someone...smarter. Or is she the real hero hunter here?" Crowley asked, looking amused.
"Really you guys? You think he would just hand you the gun, him a being a demon, and not expect you to try to shoot him? And no, these two are the ones you want, I'm just an intern. And as for you!" She whirls around at Dean, who has the sense to look sheepish. "Do you really think I would ask about part of the plan in front of someone who has no reason to know the plan? Next time try to let me talk, I don't just do it to hear my voice, I usually have something relevant to say!"
She then turned to a grinning Crowley."Thank you for the Colt. I know you are only giving it to us to try to save your own skin, but I'm thanking you anyway, because that's just how I was raised. Now may I please have the bullets? We kinda need them if we are going to shoot the devil."
"Of course. I was going to hand them over anyway, but how could I refuse such a mannered request from a lady?" he smirked at the Winchesters as he handed her the bullets. "You should keep this one around boys, I like her. Besides, someone in your operation needs to have some brains. Also, you should head to Carthage, Missouri, that's where he is holed up at the moment."
"Good grief, first an angel, now a demon, what am I, supernatural catnip?" Ashley muttered as she handed Dean the bullets. "Next thing you know the devil will be having a conversation with me."
"Yes yes, now you, Moose and Squirrel should leave, you have an Apocalypse to try to stop."
"What are you going to do if it fails?" Dean asked Crowley.
"Me? I'm going on an extended vacation, don't worry about me. And don't miss!"
As they left the mansion, Ashley could hear Dean whispering to Sam. "Remind me not to ever make her mad, she's actually pretty damn scary when she wants to be."
As it turns out, Ashley had already had a conversation with Lucifer, though neither knew who the other was.
Ashley had been left alone in the motel while Sam and Dean went check out an emergency called in by a guy named Chuck, and her and Gwaine had went out to find something to eat, tired of eating takeout. She stopped in a convenience store for a moment to get a bottle of water, Gwaine following happily behind her, glad to get out and roam around instead of staying in the motel. As they were about to head out the door, Ashley saw a homeless man sitting outside across the street on a bench, looking about as dejected as a person could. His clothes were loose and dirty from not hardly eating and sleeping outside, and he had a sign asking for money to buy food.
She paused for a moment before heading back inside and bought 2 bottles of water, a chicken strip dinner from the hot food area, and a soft blanket from the tourist section with the state name on it. She headed back out the door and walked over to the man, handing him the bag and smiling. He took it, confused, and looked inside.
"I know it's not much, but I thought a hot meal and something to drink would do you some good, plus the blanket will just help keep you a bit warmer at night."
When the man looked back up from the bag there were tears in his eyes, and he barely managed a thank you and a smile before tearing open the dinner and digging in. She walked off before he could find the 50$ bill she had slipped in there, in a much better mood for doing a random good deed.
"Why did you do that?"
She frowned and turned around to see a tall man with light blue eyes, blonde hair and what looked like 2 days worth of trimmed 5 o'clock shadow, a quizzical look on his face. "Why did I do what?"
"Buy him food. A blanket. He doesn't have any way to repay you, and will just be hungry again tomorrow."
"Because...it was the right thing to do? You shouldn't do something just because you may get re-payed for it, that's all sorts of messed up. And it will make his day a little bit better knowing someone thought of him, was kind to him. The fact that so many people have probably walked right by him and not given him a second thought kind of pisses me off."
"Isn't that the nature of humanity though? Selfish, violent things with no thought of anything except themselves?"
"Why the hell am I even having this conversation, in a street no less?" she thinks to herself, then speaks out loud to the stranger. "Look, while I don't mind having this conversation, it's not one to have on the sidewalk, it's one for sitting down to coffee and food. So if you will excuse me.."
"Ok."
"Ok what?"
"Ok to having this conversation over coffee and food."
"Seriously?"
"As serious as Death."
She looked at him for a moment, trying to see if he was joking, if he's serious. When saw sees no sign of lying she pursed her lips and made a quick decision."Sure, why not. I was going to eat anyway. I warn you though, you try any funny business and Gwaine will take great offense to it. It's not like I have had a good serious philosophical discussion with a complete stranger in a while anyways. Follow me then, I was just heading to IHOP across the street." When he makes no comment she turns around and starts walking, not checking to see if he is following her.
She also thinks that she is making a habit of trusting complete strangers, which can't be a good thing.
The hostess sat her in a booth in the corner, and sure enough the man came in and sat across from her, looking at her expectantly.
"Their caramel hot chocolate is pretty good. So, I figure I should probably know your name if I'm going to be eating with you?"
"My name is Lu..Nick. My name is Nick."
"Hi Nick, my name is Ashley, nice to meet you. Now explain to me why..." She stopped as the waitress walked up and took their orders, Ashley the salted caramel hot chocolate with spinach and mushroom omelette, bacon, water and pancakes for Gwaine( after flashing the emotional support dog card that she had gotten along with her fake id, allowing her to bring him in anywhere), and coffee for Nick.
When the waitress left she looked back at Nick."As I was saying earlier, could you explain to me why you wanted to talk to me? About the nature of humanity apparently? Is is that strange I was nice to him?"
"From all I have seen of most of humanity, yes. Humans are nothing but barbarians, violent and cruel, thinking of nothing but their own happiness. They don't deserve everything that God has given them, or the love he showers on them."
"Oh, is this turning into a religious argument? Oh goody, I haven't had one of those since since the last time I went to church and there was an actual class about how everyone who wasn't in church of Christ was going to hell."
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she noticed he had a bit of a skin problem starting near his hairline."Do you not believe in God?"
"Oh, I believe in him, I have seen too much in my life to not know he's real, I just don't like how every single church seems to think they get to choose who goes where. And as to your other comment, yes, humans are a violent race, and can be cruel at times. That just furthers my reasoning of doing good where you can, to try to counteract all the stupidness. If you see something that's wrong, you should try to fix it, not look at like it isn't your problem. And unfortunately, sometimes it takes a whole shitload of evil for someone to appreciate the good around them, no matter how small it is."
"And you think that humanity is deserving of God's love?"
"At times, no, I don't. But I think God is like a parent who loves his children no matter what they do, no matter how much they have done against him. And the ones who need to learn a lesson, almost a time out...well there is a place for that. And that the people who end up there, need to be there, like child molesters, murderers, rapists, lawyers..."
He looks almost shocked at that."So you believe Hell is a good thing?"
"If you deserve to be there, yes."
"What about the devil?"
"Honestly? I don't think he would so dead set against humanity if he could actually see the good in humanity. Instead of being able to go out and see the good ones, he was stuck for who knows how long with the dregs, the worst of us."
"You have a...very interesting point of view. I have never met anyone with a positive look on m..the devil before."
"Well considering I have never met the guy, I can't exactly go around judging him, now can I? The only information there is on him is in a book that has probably been changed around several times before it was legible for us to read, and I don't feel right passing judgement on someone until I know their side, it's just my nature."
He stared at her, not saying anything, looking as if he was carefully considering her words. While he does that the food and drink arrive for everyone, and she takes the time to enjoy part of her meal, Gwaine eagerly munching on his while Nick just sips his coffee. She was honestly surprised by Gwaines behavior, usually he doesn't like strangers, especially since being around the Winchesters, but he doesn't seem to mind Nick much, if merely acting cautious around him. That was probably why she agreed to this little conversation in the first place, Gwaine was her first line of defense on whether to trust someone.
She studied Nick as she ate, noticing he had a faraway look on his face most of the time, though it had been a bit sad when they had discussed God as a father, and putting naughty children in time-out."So then what do you think of the devil?"
He looked up at her from staring at his coffee and cocked his head, studying her."I think...he was punished for loving God too much. That his brothers abandoned when he wanted their support. That no one wanted to listen to what he had to say, and that he was unjustly judged. That he was stuck with a job he didn't want."
"Sympathy for the devil then?"
He smileda small smile for the first time since she had met him, though it's sad. "To use your words, no one will listen to his side of the story."
"Besides, in humanities defense, there are a lot of asshole angels." She mutted to herself, but as Nick looked at her curiously her phone went off.
~On way back to motel, be ready to leave~ Dean.
She groaned and stood up, glad she finished her meal at least.
"Leaving so soon?" Nick asked her.
"Yea, my friends are coming back to get me so we can leave. It was really nice meeting you Nick. I hope our talk gave you some things to think about." She pulled out some cash and put it on the table, calling Gwaine to get up. Before she left, though, she paused next to Nick and looked at him, putting her hand on his shoulder, him looking surprised at the contact. "You be careful the next couple of weeks, all right? There has been a lot of weird, dangerous things happening lately, and it will be hard to look at the world in a different light if you're dead."
As she turned around and left, back to the motel, Lucifer sat there for a while considering their talk. Never had anyone explained their views like that to him, actually refusing to automatically see him a bad light, thinking he shouldn't have been stuck in hell with the worst of the mud monkeys his father had created. And while it was true he would have a hard time looking at them as anything but uncivilized barbarians, the girl had actually stirred doubt in him, for the first time since they were created.
He disappeared not 30 seconds later, to keep up his search for Sam, though with more to think about than he had in a long time.
And not so far away, hiding in his own mortal vessel and hiding his grace well enough that no one would be able to tell its him, God smiled to himself, having hope that his son still has a chance to be saved.
Blurring back to the present day, she was now sitting on top of the car with Gwaine on the ground next to her in Carthage, waiting for Sam, Dean, Ellen, Jo and Castiel to come back, having told her she didn't have enough experience to go with them, and she should stay with the car if they need a quick getaway. She argued with them for a long time about it, but in the end agreed, as everyone else argued for her staying as well, no matter how pissed she got at them.
Of course, what they didn't tell her was that they were most likely going to be up against practically a horde of demons and hell-hounds, and that was no certainty that all of them, if any, were coming back. No, she thought they were all just going to gang up on the devil, as they didn't feel the need to inform her of the entire plan. That meant while waiting for them on the car she got bored, and pulled up music on her phone, singing along and dancing with Gwaine, who would always get excited about music and jump up on his hind legs to join in.
That also meant that she was taken unawares when someone called her name.
"Ashley."
She screamed and let go of Gwaine, who immediately jumped in front of her and started growling, not actually knowing who it was but knowing he had to protect his pack member. However, when he saw the person he stopped and cocked his head to the side, confused, and sat down, though still in front of her.
"Nick? Is that you?" She turns off the music and looks back at him, noticing an amused expression on his face, along with the fact that his skin problem had gotten a bit worse. "The last time I saw you was a week ago at that Ihop, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. I had some...business here."
"Yea, my friends did too, and they left me here, and I got bored, so had to play music and..well yea. Boredum sucks."
"I saw. You have a lovely voice. I take it you're a fan of music?"
"Oh yea, I couldn't live without music, it can calm me down when I'm angry, it can make me cry, make me happy, make me want to dance..music is just a wonderful thing."
He seems pleased about that, and comes closer to her, leaning against the car."Did you know that when Lucifer was still considered an archangel, music was his domain? He actually loved it as well, quite a lot in fact."
"Really? No, I didn't know that...its sad, no one who loves music that much could be that bad..." As they talk, Gwaine moves closer to her, nuzzling against her leg, and she absent-mindedly starts scratching behind his ears. They talk for about 15 minutes, her glad to have someone to talk to, when he frowns and looks up at the sky.
"I need to leave for a minute to do something. Please stay here, I will be right back, I promise." Without waiting for a confirmation from her he starts walking back towards the town, leaving her looking up at the sky in exasperation.
"Why the hell does everyone keep leaving me alone here? Isn't there supposed to be demons and all sorts of evil beasties roaming the earth? In what way does leaving me alone make me safer?" Gwaine just looks up at her and whines, and she sighs and sits down on the ground next to him, letting him put his head in her lap. About fifteen minutes pass and she is unbearably bored again, realizing she has left her phone on the car. However, when she stands up to get it, she's grabbed from behind and shoved against the car.
"What the hell, let me go!" She looks up angrily at her assailant, only to gasp when she sees his eyes are pitch black. Gwaine next to her was growling and barking, looking like he wanted to attack, only to be knocked aside by an invisible force. "Gwaine! What did you do to him you bastard?"
"OOh feisty are we? I like the feisty ones, what are you doing out here little girl? Waiting on the Winchesters? Because there's a very good chance they aren't coming back." He says, leering at her. "Though, if they did...pretty little thing like you would make a perfect host to keep tabs on them...What do you say, want me inside you?"
"Get bent and die asswipe! I would rather drop dead than let you take me over!"
"That can be arranged.." He whispers into her ear. "You don't have to be alive for me to take you over, though its more fun if you are.."
She shudders visibly in his grasp at the thought of him taking her over, and starts struggling as hard as she can, wishing the stupid Winchesters had been more thorough in their demon killing lessons. The demon slaps her across the face, drawing blood across her lip. "Stupid Bitch, hold still!" He holds her tight across the car and lifts his head, thick black smoke tearing from his mouth, up in the air, then back down towards her. She screams as she feels it tearing through her, taking her over, when all of a sudden it stops, and starts reversing back out of her. When it is out she yanks herself out of his grip and falls to the ground, coughing and gasping, holding her throat.
When she finally stops coughing she looks up to see Nick holding the demon up by the throat, a murderous look in his eyes. He seems to crush the demons windpipe and it crumples to the ground, the black smoke racing out again and down into the earth until it disappears. He looks over and his gaze softens and he heads over, helping her up. Once standing she looks him the eye, deciding something. "You, you pulled the demon out of me...how did you do that? And sending the demon back to hell..cripes you're an angel aren't you? Is that how you know so much about Lucifer, and were asking all those questions, and why you talked about humanity like you weren't part of it."
"Not exactly, but yes. And yes, I did pull the demon out of you. I would rather not see one of those filth in you, you don't deserve it. In fact..hold on." He gets close to her and seems to think, before placing a finger behind one of her ears and pressing down, a slight burning sensation starting to form where his finger is.
"What are you doing, that burns!"
"It should, I am burning a tattoo there, just one more minute."
"A..what? Why are you burning a tattoo on me?"
He finishes and takes his finger away, looking her in the eyes. "It's a small anti-demon possession tattoo, it will keep demons out of you."
"Oh. Um, thank you, that will definitely come in handy. But why did you give it to me?"
"I told you, I don't want to see a demon take you over. That and...I have never met a human like you, one that I immediately didn't hate. You are actually kind, not at all like the majority on the earth, and have given me much to think about when it comes to things on heaven and hell, and humanity in general, and I thank you for that."
"All I did was talk to you over food and coffee, then again just now!"
"And you made that much of an impression on me in that short of a time, that's how potent your actions and words were. Like you said, a great amount of evil to appreciate a small amount of good, and you are that good. I would even like to call you friend eventually, and I don't have many, if any, of those."
"Who are you?"
Before he can answer, she hears Sam and Dean calling to her, running to the impala from the town. They stop however, when they see Ashleys companion, and mouths drop open as they glare at him. "Ashley, what the hell, get away from him! I swear, if you touch one hair on her head..."
"You'll what? Shoot me again? Because that worked so well last time."
"Shoot you again? Why would they..shoot you..at all.." She slows down as it hits her, and she looks over at Nick/Lucifer, and he just stares back at her, eyes sad. "That's why you were surprised when we had that talk...no one has ever wanted to hear your side of the story..that's why the sympathy for the devil...you're him. Aren't you?"
"Yes."
"And you want to be my friend."
"..Yes."
"But you still want to start the Apocalypse?" When he doesn't answer she closes her eyes to think, and when she opens them back up he is gone, and Sam and Dean are running up to her.
"Are you ok, did he hurt you? Wait, she might be a demon, check her!"
"I'm not a demon you idjits" she mutters, and shows them the tattoo behind her ear.
"When did you get that?"
"Umm, just now. Lucifer kinda gave it to me, if you can believe it."
"That makes no sense at all! Why would the devil want to keep demons from taking over someone? And it still doesn't answer the question of why he was here, why Gwaine is just now getting up and limping, and why there is a dead man on the ground."
"Dead man was a demon who attacked me and Gwaine, he knocked Gwaine against the car, and Ni..Lucifer then killed him."
"Yea...why?" Dean asks, suspicious look on his face.
"Does it look like I know? All I know is he killed the demon for some reason, probably because he hates them more than humans, then you two showed up. By the way, where's Jo and Ellen?"
Deans face fell at that, as well as Sams, and they look at each other, Sam finally volunteering the information. "They..didn't make it. They ended up sacrificing themselves to take out a ton of hell-hounds, while we went after Lucifer ourselves. Also, the Colt doesn't work on him, we tried. Guess we gotta figure out something else."
Ashley freezes and goes pales, before tears start running down her cheeks at the fate of the two female hunters. Gwaine gets up and limps towards her, and she hugs him tightly, burying her face in his fur.
"Come on, we gotta get back to Bobby and let him know what happened. Probably still do the tests on you.." Sam starts. Ashley however, grabs the demon killing knife from him and runs it across her arm, drawing blood.
"Look, no demon, pain and bleeding but that's normal, can we go now?" Sam and Dean look at each other, a bit worried about the stability of her, and nod.
"Yea, lets go."
The entire ride back to Bobby's, Ashley thinks about the fact that she can't seem to keep supernatural bigwigs away from her, and the fact that the latest one is, again, a mass murderer, and the brother of the last one she made friends with. Oh, and the Devil.
Lucifer wants to be her friend.
Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?
Far away, God's smile gets a bit bigger.
Lucifer Feels. Deep thoughts. I miss Lucifer. Anyone else wanna see him get a second chance? Let me know..