Angel of Hope
Rowan and Death ate pepperoni pizza, pickle chips and swallowed it down with Pepsi. There was plenty left, so Rowan gestured to her Draugar to join in on the fun and she didn't want to hear that demons don't eat. They had been sitting in silence for a while, enjoying the junk food while Rowan slowly regained her strength, until Death spoke.
"I see you've met Gadreel." He said and Rowan nodded with a smile.
"Yes, and he's currently with Sam and Dean Winchester." Rowan replied, taking a sip from her Pepsi. "I'm looking forward to working with him." she added and glanced over at Death who seemed quiet. "Why exactly did you want me to employ him, as you had put it?" she asked and he looked down at his pickle chips rather than meeting her eyes.
"I told you; he needs a second chance as well as sanctuary." Death said and when she remained silent, he glanced at her to see an arched eyebrow as if she was trying to read him, like there was something he wasn't telling her. "You have a bleeding heart these days. I figured you would find a place for him here." He said and she smiled in response.
"Seems I'm not the only bleeding heart around here." She said and ate her pickle chips with a smile, knowing that Death was giving her that cold stare, because she was right once again. He might find humans to be insignificant, but apparently he finds Gadreel was a victim of injustice.
Death used his napkin to conclude their little picker-upper meal, wiping his mouth and his hands. Bjarni took his paper plate, placing it in the empty pizza box that Agmundr and Raganhar had finished off.
"Well, I'll leave you to work on Helheim. I'll check in after two days." Death said and Rowan grinned, knowing he'd eventually say something about it taking more than two days.
"Thanks for the help." She said and when he glanced at her, she was seriously thanking him, but then her seriousness was gone with a little dark glimmer in her eyes. "Try not to work too hard." She added with a little grin. He glanced away, as if he wasn't going to miss her, and walked towards the portal, disappearing like he had arrived; lost in a glowing circular shape. He didn't even say goodbye.
Rowan gave her paper plate to Bjarni and stood up, fixing her hair and her dress.
"I'll get Gadreel to help us build Helheim." She said and vanished before saying anything else to her Draugar.
She stood in the kitchen of the Men of Letters' bunker, stumbling a little backwards, not yet fully restored from constructing Helheim. She leaned against the counter, looking beside her to see the bottle of scotch. She grabbed it, decided to skip the glass, and took a sip. The liquid burned down her throat, but it felt greatly energizing. She left the bottle on the counter and walked out of the kitchen.
She could hear some voices down the corridor, probably at the tables where they did their research. Did those boys not take her seriously when she told them to rest? What did she have to do, threaten them?
She confirmed what she thought as she had felt four individuals in that direction and began walking towards them. Her pumps clacked against the floor and the voices stopped when they heard her. She probably could walk more silently, but she just made Helheim; screw it, the Winchesters were going to have to hear her shoes on their floor.
Fenrir got up and gave her a wide grin as soon as he saw her. She stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. What the Hell did Dean do to her brother?
"Hey sis, you look great." He said and she looked at the Winchesters behind him, getting up to see her.
"Is my brother drunk?" she asked them and Dean gave her this little guilty smile, looking a little dazed. She glanced over at Sam with a slight grin. "Is your brother drunk?" she added and he let out a little laugh.
"Yeah." Sam replied and Rowan tried to walk around her brother, but he pulled her into a hug.
"I love you, little sis." He added and she tried not to get crushed against his wall of a muscular chest, but he wouldn't let her go. She looked over at Gadreel who hadn't gotten up like the other boys had. He was looking as uncomfortable as she felt. Did the Winchesters not make him feel welcomed?
"I'm actually here for Gadreel." She said and he got up then, but Fenrir didn't get the hint. For an angel, he seemed eager to go with the Lady of the Dead.
"You're not going to stay?" Fenrir asked, making this sound that Rowan could have sworn was the whining of a pup.
"I'm building Helheim." Rowan said, casting a little smile Gadreel's way.
"I can help." Fenrir said and she tried pushing her brother way, but he wouldn't let her go. She could have let out a fierce growl of her own, but she kept herself calm; it wasn't his fault a certain hunter got him drunk.
"Brother, I don't think you can. But I will keep in touch with you. You know, grab a coffee, set you up on some dates." Rowan said and he let out a little laugh, finally letting her go. She quickly stood back and smoothed out her dress.
"No one's gonna want to date the big bad wolf." Fenrir replied and she looked at him with a smile. She could have said something good like Well, stop being such an asshole or Then, trying flirting back, you jerk, but she reminded herself to be nice.
"We'll take care of that once you're sober." She said, tapping his shoulder, only to get sucked back into his hug. "Okay, Fenrir, little sis has to work now." Rowan said and smiled as he let her go.
"So how's Helheim coming along?" Sam asked and the second she looked into his eyes, she knew without a doubt that he really cared for her. Maybe he was hoping that she would feel the same about him. That last thing she wanted to do was break his heart, but she couldn't give him any false hope; that would be worst.
"It's dark and boring, but fundamentals are the building blocks of fun." Rowan replied, making Sam smile a little at her Uptown Girls reference that just so happened to fit her situation. His smile, the way he looked down, his eyes… yeah, if he had been in her life before Crowley, she would have let him fuck her on a table.
"And what is going to be like?" he asked, a little bit of fear in his eyes, but also a glimmer of hope. That's what she liked about him; he had a lighter side despite his dark world.
"What you want it to be." Rowan replied with a warm smile after a brief moment of silence. "It's going to take a while to build, but that's why I have help." She added and stepped away from her brother, glancing at Gadreel. "Ready?" she asked him and he nodded eagerly.
Rowan extended her hand for him to take. She glanced at the Winchesters and Fenrir, giving them a little smile, and then vanished from the bunker, appearing in the entrance of Helheim. She released Gadreel's hand and glanced over at him, checking to see if he was okay.
His eyes were scanning the waiting room with a bit of confusion.
"This is the entrance of the Underworld. Over to the left is the channel to Hell and to the right, Helheim." Rowan said, walking towards it, hearing Gadreel's shoes on the floor behind her. Her Draugar had been sitting in the chairs, waiting, and got up to follow her too.
They climbed down the escalators and she showed Gadreel the elevators on each side of the short corridor.
"Beneath our feet are the levels of Helheim. I've decided that the souls will be sorted." Rowan said, explaining her idea that some deserve more because of how they had lived their lives. Gadreel nodded and she wasn't sure if it was out of respect or because he agreed with her. Either one was fine with her.
She walked up to the two doors, starting with the one of the left. She opened it and turned to her Draugar.
"This will be our office where we review souls in Helheim, those that have to work their way up or those that should welcome the souls of the children, to ease their fear and uncertainty." She said, talking about how she'd like computers and iPads so that they could have all the personal data of the souls at their finger tips, to make the sorting out so much easier and faster. They seemed to have liked the idea as much as she did.
Rowan left them in the nearly empty room with bookshelves and desks that didn't even have good lighting, knowing that they'd want to discuss who had their desk in which corner.
She turned to Gadreel who was just outside of the office, as if knowing that wasn't for him. Rowan walked out and smiled at him, curling her finger to order that he follow her.
"This is something I wanted to show you." Rowan said and when she opened the door, she turned to see his expression. She gestured for him to go in first and she watched his face. He didn't know what to make of the penthouse styled apartment. Unlike the office, this was furnished and beautiful.
The first part of the apartment was the living area, all wood floors, with dark oak bookshelves in the right corner with a lovely brown reading chair and a hanging lamp. To the left corner were a rack for coats and a carpet for shoes. Further down on the left wall was a gray stone fireplace and above it was a sixty inch screen television. In the center of the room was a light colored carpet and to the right, not quite touching the wall, was a white sofa with white chairs and a glass coffee table. In the center of the ceiling was a modern chandelier, casting light all around.
Further in were the dining room and kitchen combined in an open concept, all wood, white cabinets and drawers with stainless steel appliances. The light fixtures were hanging lights above the table and spot lights around the kitchen.
To the left, in between the kitchen and living area was a bedroom with warmer colors, like teal and brown, in modern styles. Gadreel probably didn't need a bedroom, but it was there if he wanted it.
Gadreel looked around, walking in to see the entire apartment which was large enough for a family. His expression was difficult to read, but she was certain that he would want to stay in Helheim.
"What do you think?" Rowan asked and he turned to her, eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"What is this?" he asked her and she smiled, approaching him in the center of the penthouse.
"Well, I didn't want to ask right away, but I can't resist." Rowan said, looking at the place, wondering if maybe he wasn't sure because it was too much; too big and too fancy. Maybe he'd like something simpler. She relaxed and continued. "I want your help in building Helheim, but I would like to offer you a place to stay and work, if you'll accept." She said, glancing into his sea-green eyes with a soft smile.
"You want me to stay?" he asked and she thought maybe that was relief in his eyes.
"I think it would be good to have an angel in Helheim, maybe to care for the first level of souls." She said and held out a set of keys. "This place is all yours if you want it." she added and he looked at the keys, a little surprised, but mostly confused. It seemed like there was so much he wanted to say and just didn't know how. He glanced back up into her eyes and she saw it; uncertainty.
Gadreel surprisingly turned and sat in one of the white chairs. She sat on the other across from him, waiting for him to open up.
"Why did Death send you?" he asked and she realized that she had never told him what Death had said about him. She nodded and spoke in a soft voice.
"He told me that I might want to hire an angel that deserved of a second chance and a safe place." Rowan replied with calmness and warmth in her expression. He only stared at her and remained silent for a brief moment.
"Do you know what I did?" he asked and she looked at him, letting him know that she was going to attentively listen with compassion. "I failed Eden. I let Lucifer in; allowed my blindness and foolishness to fail God's children." He added and she let the compassion show in her eyes as she gently reassured him.
"That's wasn't your fault." She said and he shook his head. "You know who's to blame." she added and he looked up into her eyes like a scared child. "Lucifer is the only one to blame." she concluded, but he shook his head again.
"I was supposed to keep Eden safe." Gadreel said and Rowan's heart began to bleed, hearing the years of guilt and self-loathe in his voice. He blamed himself because everyone else did. And that's when Rowan had a question she was sure who silence his self-loathing.
"Why you?" she asked and he seemed stunned.
"What?" he asked and she kept the compassion strong in her eyes.
"Why was it just you? Why was there just one angel protecting Eden? Why not more? When Lucifer slithered his way in, where were the other angels?" she asked him, realizing that his silence wasn't simply him being shocked, but him asking himself those questions. "It was unfair to place all that responsibility on you. It was unfair to punish, torture and imprison you for something that the other angels left you to do on your own. They failed Eden. They failed you, Gadreel." She concluded and he stared into her eyes as if finally seeing a light at the end of his dark tunnel; like finally someone was lifting the heaviness off his shoulders.
Gadreel remained silent for a moment and Rowan got up, taking his hand and placing the keys to the penthouse in his palm, enclosing his fingers on it, holding onto his hand. He looked up into her eyes and she gave him a warm smile.
"You're not alone here. We're a family here. The place is yours if you want it. If you lose the keys, they'll always reappear in your pocket." She said, still holding onto his hand until she received an answer. Finally, Gadreel had given her a small smile, looking down at their hands.
"Thank you, Rowan." He said and she released her grip on him, looking at the windows that revealed the darkness of Helheim.
"I was hoping to give you a nice view. Anything you want." She said and he got up, looking at the windows.
"Perhaps a view of the first level of Helheim, when it's complete." He said and her lips broadened in a bright smile.
"Wish granted." She replied and then slapped her hands, turning around to leave his penthouse. "So let's get to work." She concluded, getting her Draugar to start constructing the first level of Helheim, which seriously needed a name rather than first level.