The Cure for Flying

"I was abandoned as a child," Lucy started her story. "Nobody wanted me because I was an abnormality. An abomination in my father's eyes. A mistake in my mother's. My father was an angel who took the liberty of enjoying a carnal experience with a forbidden human while he was on Earth. I never met him. My mother left me on the doorstep of a church as a baby. For ten years I was in and out of orphanages. When I turned eleven a woman took me into her foster care. I thought she might be different but she turned out worse. I was different from the other girls and boys and no one wanted to play with me. Not that I had any interest in playing with them. I was much more interested in birds. Anything with wings. Insects, butterflies. I was jealous. Jealous because they could fly, and I couldn't." There was something feral about the look in her eyes.

"When I was fifteen a woman decided she wanted to adopt me. She was interested in birds too. But I wasn't interested in having a family. I don't trust people, and I certainly didn't need a new mother. Not after mine abandoned me as a baby. I set to work trying to find out how to give myself the ability to fly. I studied Nephilim, learned what I was and found the language of my people. I memorized it and started trying different spells. None of them worked. They weren't strong enough. I didn't have the right ingredients. The woman walked in on me one day performing one of these spells. She thought I was a monster and sent me back where I belonged. I didn't care one way or another except now they were suspicious of me, always watching me. I realized that I needed something more powerful for my spell. A certain ingredient that I could only gain by containing a human soul. Of course later I learned that I needed many souls, but for now I thought my hope rested on one soul. I went about trying to get one of the other girls to join me in a ritual, but she wouldn't have it. She was interested in wings too, you see, so I thought she'd understand. I offered her a chance to fly away from all her troubles, but she wouldn't take it. After that the woman who ran the foster care got suspicious. I tried to spend as much time as I could away from the house. I had a place in the woods I liked to go. You see I might not be able to fly, but I had been born with wings. Would you like to see them?" Her eyes lit up like a child's as she asked Elizabeth this question.

Elizabeth felt a sense of dread wash over her but nodded nonetheless. Lucy turned her back, letting her white dress fall off her shoulders and then to the ground. Elizabeth didn't bother to be surprised by her immodesty. Her eyes were drawn to the center of Lucy's back between her shoulder blades. Two stubby wings grew there. They were black like bat's wings and frayed along the edges. Her back, where the two wings sprouted from, was red and swollen, marred by puffy scars and awful looking cuts that had healed over in an ugly way.

Lucy let her stare a moment longer before pulling her dress back on. "Now you see what they did to me. You see why I must have my revenge. The birdwatcher caught sight of me trying to fly one day. He knew my foster mother. He called her and told her what he'd seen. All my life I'd been passed off as something horrible. The orphanages tried to ignore the tiny bumps in my back as a baby. When I was a child and my wings started to grow, I didn't let anyone see my back. A few times someone caught sight of it, but they didn't say a word about it. They were afraid I was a demon. They kept their mouths shut. But this man didn't. He told what he had seen. That's when my foster mother and adoptive mother conspired against me. They knew a man who conducted experiments on creatures. They took me to see him. They drugged my food and took me to this man with the knives and the urge to carve. When I woke up I was strapped to a table, my back exposed. I couldn't move. They told me this would make me better. They thought it would cure me as if it was some disease. Why then did birds and butterflies have the right to fly and not me? He cut my wings off. He was no surgeon so it hurt. The drugs wore off too quickly, and I felt every slice. I screamed and screamed but no one listened. No one made the pain stop. That night, after it was finished, I ran away and never returned. My wings grew back in time, but they are hardly worth of the Queen of the Nephilim. My scars are witness to the crimes that have been committed against me. I could not let them get away with it."

Understanding dawned on Elizabeth. "So they were all involved. Delia told on you. The birdwatcher saw you and didn't keep quiet. Your foster mother and adoptive mother brought you to the taxidermist who cut your wings off. That's horrible." She meant it. She didn't agree that the people in question had to be murdered, but what had happened to Lucy was horrible. She might not be fully human, but she was still a girl. "I'm sorry."

"I can tell you mean that even if you don't condone murder."

"You took their souls?" She tried to keep Lucy talking, hoping to learn more about the spell.

"They didn't deserve them. And I need them more. After all they did to me, I deserve this."

"How does the spell work? Do you have enough souls?" She hoped she wasn't sounding too eager.

"I do. I've collected a lot over the past few years. I have demons willing to give blood and cross roads dirt. There's just one more thing I need."

"Wings."

Lucy's eyes lit up and there was something greedy in the expression just like the first time they had met. "Wings," she echoed. "Glorious wings."

"A bird's wings?" Elizabeth asked.

"No indeed, I tried that already on the little pet I was given. Of course I didn't have the proper souls yet, but I realized the wings were much too small. Much too fragile. I need stronger wings."

"What has stronger wings?" Her eyes widened. "An angel?"

Lucy laughed and it sounded like the trill of a songbird. "No, no. I couldn't capture an angel even if I tried. But I know of someone whose wings are much easier to come by."

"Someone?" Warning bells were going off in Elizabeth's head. She took a step back but Demon-Rae was standing right there.

"You want to stand up for our kind, don't you, Elizabeth?" Lucy asked taking a step forward. "You can make the greatest sacrifice of all to ensure the success of our noble breed. All I need is your wings."

…

Castiel had been keeping an eye on Elizabeth after she'd entered the zoo. He could sense her grace moving toward the middle of the zoo until she stopped. She stood for a few moments and then her grace disappeared. Castiel opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked. He'd been watching Castiel, worried about Elizabeth.

"I can't sense her anymore," Castiel said. He could see the alarm in Sam's eyes.

"Then where is she?"

"I don't know." He left the car abruptly and went to the aviary. It was empty. He walked in a circle, but Elizabeth was nowhere to be found. He tuned into the angel radio to see if he could perceive her, tried calling out to her, but it was silent. Then he heard another angel. The angel had been tracking the Nephilim. He'd found their location just outside of Portland in the woods. He was going to exterminate them and was calling for backup. Castiel answered and disappeared from the aviary. He found himself in a lush forest where the sun couldn't reach down far enough to warm the earth. Raised voices alerted him to the Nephilim. He recognized Elizabeth's voice.

"You're crazy!" she shouted. "You're going to do the same thing that they did to you. You killed them for their crimes! You're no better than them if you do this!"

"I do it for the good of our kind. You're too much angel. You'll never join us." Castiel realized this must be the Nephilim queen. He stepped forward. The camp lay ahead through the undergrowth, and he could see Elizabeth standing before a pale girl with wild eyes. A group of Nephilim and demons stood around them, closing in on Elizabeth. Elizabeth drew a knife from her coat and brandished it.

"If you want my wings then you'll have to fight me for them," she said, her voice steady. "I've been trained to fight by an angel."

Lucy smiled. "A little angel's pet, aren't you? Show her what we can do girls," she said to her clan. It was time for Castiel to intervene. Before he could, something crashed into the clearing. He heard one of the girls scream and saw a flash of bright light. The other angel had arrived.

…

Elizabeth tripped back as the Nephilim and demons moved toward her. Her heart was pounding in her head. She shouldn't have come. Why hadn't she realized that Lucy would want her wings? Of course Lucy would be jealous. Elizabeth could fly. It was all Lucy had ever wanted, and now she was going to take that away from Elizabeth – try to anyway. Elizabeth wasn't going down without a fight. She pulled a knife from her coat.

"If you want my wings then you'll have to fight me for them," she said hoping that she sounded braver than she felt. "I've been trained to fight by an angel." She left out that they'd only had two lessons so far.

Lucy smiled, and it was a twisted look that made her look ghoulish. "A little angel's pet, aren't you? Show her what we can do girls," she said, and her acolytes moved forward with haunted eyes. Elizabeth couldn't fight them all, but she would go down trying. It didn't occur to her to fly away. It was in her nature to stand and fight, and running away would only ensure that Lucy got away with her crimes. Before she had the chance to even swing her blade something crashed into the clearing. There was a flash of light and one of the Nephilim girls fell to the ground, eyes burned out. Angel. At first she thought it was Castiel, but the angel who stood before her was very different. He had sharp cut cheeks and green eyes that were half-feral. His muscles flexed under his jacket, and he held an angel blade in one hand. He didn't speak, but his presence struck fear into the Nephilim and demons. Two of the demons disappeared. The Nephilim tried to run away, but he struck out with his blade, catching one in the chest. The other he appeared in front of and grabbed by the head. She shrieked as her eyes were burned out.

Lucy watched on, and for the first time Elizabeth saw an emotion other than hunger: fear. She turned on Elizabeth. "You brought him here!" she accused. Anger flashed in her eyes.

"I don't even know who that is. You brought this on yourself." Elizabeth braced herself, gripping the knife tightly as Lucy paced toward her. Then, without warning, Lucy threw herself at Elizabeth. They both went down, and Elizabeth felt Lucy's nails scratch her cheek. She cried out in pain, trying to wrestle the knife out from where it was trapped between them. She rolled over, scrambling to get Lucy off of her, but Lucy was like a spitting wild cat. She scratched Elizabeth's hand and the knife dropped. They both lunged for it, falling together in a tangle of limbs. Elizabeth's fingers clawed for the handle of the blade. The Nephilim were still screaming in the background until the last scream cut off. Elizabeth glanced up for a second to see the angel approaching Demon-Rae.

"Rae!" Elizabeth cried out before remembering that her friend was gone. The demon's eyes met hers, black this time, not Rae's eyes. She tried to run, but the angel caught up to her. The silver blade went straight through her chest. It was like watching Rae die for the second time. Her body slumped to the ground, empty of the demon.

Elizabeth felt something cut into her neck and realized that in her moment of distraction Lucy had gotten hold of the knife. She held the blade to Elizabeth's neck. "This is not over," she growled. "I will have your wings."

"Over my dead body."

"Oh, you don't have to be alive," Lucy said.

Elizabeth winced as the knife bit into her skin. She felt a drop of blood run down her neck. Then suddenly Lucy was gone, thrown against a tree, and Castiel was there holding a bloody angel blade. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"What took you so long?" Elizabeth asked, standing up and putting a hand to her neck.

"Demons." Castiel looked over at the other angel.

"Castiel," the green-eyed angel said. "This is a surprise. I didn't expect you to be the one to answer my call." His eyes ran over Elizabeth, and she shivered. "Seems I missed one." He took a step toward Elizabeth, but Castiel stepped between them.

"She's not the enemy," Castiel said.

The other angel studied him. "She's Nephilim," he said with distaste. "She doesn't belong on this earth. Let me dispose of her."

Castiel's hand tightened on the blade. "No. I can't let you do that."

The angel cocked his head. "Gone soft in your time on Earth, have you?" he asked. "You won't stop me."

"Elizabeth, run," Castiel said.

Elizabeth turned to leave, but the angel appeared in front of her. His blade was at her heart. He narrowed his eyes. "You have grace," he said. "Who did you steal it from?" His eyes were daggers, stabbing into her.

"No one. It was my father's," she said.

"You lie."

"I don't. It's mine now. Rightfully mine."

"It will never be yours." He reached a hand toward her heart as if to steal her grace back.

Castiel hit him from the side, knocking him away from Elizabeth. He put his angel blade to the angel's throat. "Step aside, Jericho," he said.

Jericho laughed. "You're going to fight me, Castiel? Last time we spared, I remember you didn't give me much of a challenge. Tell me, have you been practicing? Because I have." He swung his blade at Castiel who dodged it. Jericho sent out his fist, hitting Castiel squarely in the jaw. Cas stumbled back. The fight was not as elegant as Elizabeth would have imagined. Perhaps it was the human form the two angels took, but there were a lot of punches being thrown. It became clear quite soon that Jericho was the better fighter. Blood ran freely from Castiel's nose, and his lip was split. Elizabeth watched in horror. What if Castiel died defending her? There was no way she could best the angel if he couldn't. Suddenly Jericho grabbed Castiel by the throat and threw him bodily into a tree. Castiel's blade landed a few feet away. Jericho strode forward, grabbing Cas again and holding him off the ground.

"Really, did you think you could win? You're a traitor to our kind. Protecting a Nephilim."

Elizabeth knew she had to do something. Her eyes alighted on Castiel's angel blade. She grabbed it and walked slowly toward Jericho hoping he wouldn't notice her. He was too busy gloating though.

"After I kill you, I'm going to kill her. It's going to be slow unlike the others. I'm going to enjoy it." He aimed his blade at Castiel's heart.

Elizabeth sunk the angel blade into Jericho's back, stabbing upward toward his heart. The angel cried out, dropping his own blade. His body seemed to convulse and a blinding, white light erupted from him. His vessel slumped to the ground, and he was gone.

Castiel fell to the ground in a heap, massaging his neck. He looked at the dead angel and then up at Elizabeth. "You saved my life," he said, his voice strained.

"I couldn't let him kill you." She knelt down in front of him. "Why would you do that for me? You could have died."

"You don't deserve to be killed off like a monster," Castiel told her. "You're not a monster."

Elizabeth smiled. She offered Castiel a hand and helped pull him up. "You're bleeding."

He put a finger to his nose and it came away red. Then the blood vanished, and he was healed as if the fight had never happened. He bent down to retrieve his blade from Jericho's body.

"Who was he?"

"Someone you don't have to worry about again."

"Lucy." Elizabeth spun around but the Nephilim girl had vanished. "She's gone."

"She won't try to harm you again," Castiel told her. "She knows you're protected."

"But she might keep murdering, collecting souls."

Castiel shook his head. "She's lost all her followers. I think it will be awhile before she starts collecting more souls. If she does then we'll find her."

"I kind of felt sorry for her," Elizabeth said. "People tried to cut her wings off just because they thought she was an abnormality. I could have easily been in her place."

"But you wouldn't have murdered all those people."

"No, no I wouldn't have." She looked around at the bodies of the Nephilim scattered around the camp. "He slaughtered them."

Castiel followed her eyes. "To him they were beasts."

"They were just trying to find a place in this world."

"We should get back to Sam and Dean. They're worried about you," Castiel said.

"Of course." Elizabeth stretched out a hand to take his and they left the clearing. Sam and Dean were standing outside the Impala in the zoo parking lot. Sam was pacing and Dean was leaned against the car, his brow furrowed. They both jumped when Cas and Elizabeth appeared.

"Elizabeth!" Sam came forward in two great strides, pressing his lips unabashedly to hers and pulling her close. When he pulled away, his eyes were shining. "I didn't know what had happened to you."

"I'm okay. Lucy's gone. The Nephilim are dead." She left out the part where she'd killed an angel.

"But you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."