Michael had an evil smirk across his face as he led her down a corridor of the warehouse that apparently served as his main base. She forced a smirk of her own, already knowing where he was taking her. He had the tablets. He had Kevin. He wanted to know if he could use her to further his plot to escape into her world, before he possessed her. He was in for a shock, but she wasn't about to reveal her hand just yet.
The sleeve of his leather trenchcoat brushed her skin as he reached for her hand. In order to show off her status, and make a show of their "union" he had suggested she dress…differently. His suggestion had been a black leather dress, neckline plunged to her waist, length barely mid-thigh. She shut him down on that immediately. It would reveal too much about his desire for her, she had told him. And as his wife, and she emphasized wife, it would be better if she was dressed more appropriately…for someone befitting her station. That met clothes she could hunt in. So she was wearing dark wash jeans and sturdy, steal toed ankle boots with a light grey tank top and a navy colored flannel under a dark grey canvas jacket. He had suggested a trenchcoat, like his own, but she refused. What she hadn't told him was this was a feminine version of her Michael's outfit.
"Kevin Tran, meet my wife…Jamie Winchester." His voice startled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Kevin sitting at a table littered with books and crumpled paper. He looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks, and judging from the bags under his blood-shot eyes he was doing some pretty heavy drugs to stay awake.
"Your wife?" Kevin lobbed his head to the side as he stared at her. "Wait this is the Prophetess? The Voice?" He was speaking utterly too fast.
"Yes." Jamie said quietly, taking a tentative step towards the table. "I hear you're translating the tablets." She looked to Michael for approval before picking up some of Kevin's notes.
"Specifically, the Angel tablet." Kevin pulled out the tablet and placed it in front of her.
"I was hoping she could be of some…assistance to you, Prophet." Michael's voice was dark.
Kevin scoffed. "How? She can't read the tablets. Only the-"
"I can." Jamie interrupted. "I can read the tablets." She tried to catch his eye before she turned to Michael. "It's true that technically I'm just a mouthpiece, I speak, I don't read, but…in my world, the Prophets are gone, so their abilities passed to me." It was a lie. Even before Chuck undid Metatron's work and awoken Donatello, she had been cut off from Heaven, and many of her abilities to prophesize, including telepathy and much of her ability to receive visions had been impaired or simply gone. Here, however, she was completely unbound, and even in this moment all of Michael's and Kevin's thoughts swirled around her mind. She pointed out a particular passage on the angel tablet to Michael and Kevin, and upon hearing their thoughts began to recite it.
"Huh." Michael clicked in approval, looking at Kevin as if daring him to challenge his judgement again.
Kevin shrugged and picked up the tablet. "Guess I should get back to work."
"See that the spell is properly translated,' He paused. "Prophetess."
"Yes my lord." She nodded respectfully and he left, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as he was out of range, Jamie turned to Kevin and then to his notes. "You have a spell to open the portal between our worlds?" She easily poured through his notes until she found what she was looking for.
"Yeah, but…there's a hitch."
"What's that?" She began reading the notes rapidly.
"Archangel grace is required."
Jamie stopped short. She turned to look at Kevin, and then put her hand to her ring. "Shit." She swore. The vision hit her immediately. Lucifer bursting through the portal. It closing behind him. Michael's breath at her throat, his blade pressed against her neck. The pain as he sucked the grace from her soul. "Shit." She swore again, coming out of it as she turned to Kevin. "How hard are these ingredients to get?"
"Well…it's no picnic, but for the angels? Easy."
"Do you have enough for more than one spell?" She began pouring through the things around the room, already thinking of how the spell must come together.
"Yeah…but….what are you on? What's going on."
She stopped, sighed, and turned back to Kevin. "Okay, here's my deal. It's true that in my world, Michael is my husband, but he's also trapped in the Cage. There is no apocalypse there. My brothers and I prevented it by sealing Lucifer and Michael away. And then…about two years ago, Lucifer escaped."
"Why didn't you release Michael?"
"God told me not to, for one. For another…to protect my sons." Tears started to form at the mention of her boys. She missed them, and she couldn't imagine what they were going through without her, let alone the panic Donna must be feeling when she didn't return. Her brothers probably told her she was dead.
Kevin's eyes widen and his jaw dropped open. "Your sons?"
Jamie played with her ring. "Michael and I have two sons: Mark and Noah. Mark was born after we sealed Michael and Lucifer away. Noah came a few years later, before Lucifer escaped. It's a long story, but it was a spell ultimately. But anyway…from the Cage, Michael's grace protects our sons, keeps them hidden from the angels and the demons. Lucifer doesn't know, and he can't find them."
"Wait, wait, wait. You survived a Nephilim birth? Twice?"
Jamie nodded. "I am the bloodline of Michael's vessels. I was born to house angels. Strong enough to contain Michael himself, though that was never my destiny. But this Michael, this Michael is stupid enough to try."
"I don't…I don't understand."
Jamie shook her head, wiping away tears as she tried to pull herself together. "That…thing…angel, monster, whatever. He is not my husband. My Michael is a good son. He did what he did because he wanted to please his father and protect his brothers. He protected me my entire life." She clutched her ring to her heart. "But this Michael…he doesn't want a wife, or a Prophetess, he wants a vessel. He thinks he'll have access to my powers, my foresight most of all, if he possesses me. More importantly, because I am the bloodline, it makes me a "true" vessel, it would increase his power. But I have something else he needs. I have archangel grace inside me."
"Because of your sons?"
"Yes. So you see…if I don't get home, this will not end very well for me."
Kevin nodded in understanding. He picked up a few of the ingredients and started to mix the spell together.
"Wait." Jamie reached out and grabbed his hand. "Wait. Why are you helping me?"
Kevin chuckled. "In lieu of there being no God, I serve Michael. You're his Prophetess, his-"
Jamie let go of his hand. "His right hand. Yes, but that doesn't explain why you're doing this."
Kevin sighed and then grinned. "Look…you come from a place that sounds a thousand times better than this hellhole. Maybe…maybe it's a promise of a better world." He shrugged. Mixing a few more ingredients he poured it into a pouch and handed it to her. "Just needs your grace."
Jamie reached out and hugged him. "Thank you." She stuffed the pouch into her pocket just as Michael and his angels arrived. "My lord."
"Wife." The sound passed his lips, and her skin crawled. "I trust you've made considerable progress?"
"Yes." She answered, flawless in her lie. "It's properly translated and ready, right Kevin." She glanced at him.
Kevin chuckled. "Ready as it will ever be."
"Good. Follow me, please. Both of you." He extended his hand towards the door, his angels glancing at them expectedly. Kevin went through first, Jamie followed, reaching out for Michael's hand. He made a show of expecting it, but his grip was as cold and hard as steel.
Halfway to the broken old church she stopped to whisper in his ear. "My lord…as much as I would love to watch you torture Lucifer…I would prefer to go see my mother first."
Michael had a glimmer in his eye, as if considering her request. "Prophetess…this is an important moment. We're going back to your world, afterall."
"I know, of course. But obviously I would like to tell my mother we're going home." She caught his eye and smiled. "She is coming with us, of course."
Realizing he'd been caught Michael faltered, just a moment. "Of course she is. What was I thinking? Go ahead and bring her along."
He released her hand and gestured for her to go to the room where he was holding Mary. "But be sure to hurry!" He called after her. One of his angels moved forward, as if to follow, but he dismissed him, turning instead to go to Lucifer.
"We don't have much time, Mom." Jamie slipped into the room, closing and bolting the door behind her. Mary was sitting on a makeshift cot, looking worn, but she got up and went to her daughter.
"Jamie. What's going on?"
Jamie hugged her quickly and then pulled back. "Michael has a way to get back to our world. But it requires Archangel Grace." She pulled out the spell pouch and then her knife.
Mary grabbed a bowl that was sitting on the tray beside her cot, getting down beside her daughter. "Don't tell me you stole Michael's grace."
Jamie chuckled softly, slipping off her ring. "No. I'm good, but I'm not that good."
"Well then, how are you going to get it?" She watched Jamie mix the spell and then looked at the knife. Jamie sighed, taking up the knife. She took out a small vial she had snatched when Kevin wasn't looking. "Jamie?!"
"Relax, Mom." With a sigh she used the knife to smash the garnet stone of her ring. The brilliant blue of Michael's grace rose out of it and into the vial. With the grace came a vision. Lucifer broke free of the hold of Michael's guard, rushing into the rift Kevin created with the spell. It sealed behind him. "Oh God."
"Jamie?" Mary grabbed her daughter. "Jamie?"
"The spell only works for one." She muttered and then looked at her mother. "Mom, you have to go."
"No." Mary said firmly, getting up and pulling Jamie to her feet. "We both know what Michael will do to you if that's the case. He will kill you trying to get whatever grace is inside you or he'll take your body as a vessel."
"He will kill you when he sees I'm gone!"
Mary shook her head. "No. He'll need me. He knows you'll try to find a way to free me."
Jamie took a shaking breath. She picked up her ring and handed it to her mother. "Here. This still bares Michael's sigil. It will protect you."
Mary took the ring and slipped it unto her finger. She chuckled. "Like my bracelet has protected you." She gestured to the silver charm bracelet on Jamie's wrist.
Jamie looked down at it and then looked up and smiled. "I forget I'm wearing it sometimes. I've had it so long. And it always manages to come back to me." She poured the grace into the bowl and the rift suddenly opened.
Mary smiled. "Go Jamie. Go get your brothers and find a way to reopen this rift."
"I love you Mom." Jamie hugged her quickly. Suddenly they could hear Michael's angels.
"I love you too, go!" Mary pushed her into the rift and sighed as it closed behind her, just as the guards banged on the door. She kicked the bowl under the bed, scattering ashes and what was left of the spell ingredients, and the clutched Jamie's ring to her heart.
Jamie landed painfully on a patch of grass. Groaning softly, she sat up and looked around. "Great." She muttered, realizing her phone didn't survive the rift. Her vision was blurry and she laid back down. "Are you there, Michael? It's me, Jamie."