Several hours later, Marion rolled off the side of the bed and scooped her clothes up off of the floor.
"Never had to work so hard without so much as a moan in response." Crowley muttered.
"You should have asked me to moan, Crowley. I would have." She responded, pulling her no longer broken tank top back on. Crowley grabbed his glass of scotch off the side table.
"When you figured out Cassie was a distraction, once you went into a rage, did you destroy all the trinkets and gifts he gave you?"
"No. All the gifts seemed so thoughtful that I was unable to differentiate between the gifts left to keep me occupied and the ones left with true intent, so I boxed them up and put them in one of Dad's old storage spaces."
"When I'm done digging around in you... if I do it right it'll take a few days, but when I'm done... go find that necklace, the locket, and open it up. I think it might help you cope with all this."
"The locket wouldn't open. The clasp was damaged."
"No. It wouldn't open because I didn't want it to. It'll open now. Come on, get dressed."
****************
When Marion woke up, she felt like herself again. She felt disgusted with herself, and with her advanced angelic awareness, she could feel physical changes rampaging through her body. She thanked Crowley in a note left on his bedside table and left. She found an open field and prayed silently, to God.
"Glad to see you awake. Thought maybe he'd gone off script."
"You knew... you wrote my consequences. You wanted this abomination to happen." She placed a shaky hand on her stomach. "Not just nephilim, but a demon-angel hybrid. It sounds like something out of a comic book."
"A video game, actually. And I think an anime, but the point is the same. This child will be glorious. She will be the strongest thing I've ever had a hand in. You should be happy, I chose you. I picked you, out of all the disenfranchised angels hoping for just a speck of guidance, to usher in the next big thing."
"Why him, though? Why not a human?"
"I've tried the human-angel pairing. Castiel and Metatron killed her last year. I needed something stronger. I considered pairing the Bitch Knight of Hell with one of my angels in a male vessel but I couldn't think of a way to write it that wouldn't feel forced. You and the King of Hell, that just fell together perfectly."
"I will bear this creature, so I shudder to think it, but how wise is it to create a creature so strong, with no weaknesses? Did you not learn from the Leviathans?"
"Of course I did. I'm God." Justin seemed offended. "You and Crowley came together to create the new Eve and you can come together again to destroy her."
"Eve?"
"Not the one you're thinking of. The original. The mother of humanity. I always preferred Echidna for the mother of monsters, anyway. She picked Eve to sound nicer. The important thing here, Marion, is that baby. You need to keep this baby safe." Justin put his hand on Marion's stomach. "I know you. You are going to want to help Sam and Dean. You are going to try to stop Metatron and Abbadon, but I can't let you do that. Any damage to you might be damage to her. She's still vulnerable now because she's connected to you. So, until this baby is born, you will be relieved of all of your grace. I'll leave you with your wings, in order to escape bad situations."
"You're making me human again? I didn't avoid fights when I, actually, was human, why would I now?"
"Not human, just without grace. I can't fix the fact that you're an angel. You'll avoid fights because if you get into a fight that damages my nephilim Eve, I will write you a situation that will irreversibly damage everything you've ever cared about. Worse than the Mark of Cain taking your brother, worse than Charlie stuck in Oz. I will destroy everything you care about, if your decisions fuck up this baby."
"Yes, sir."
"Glad you understand." He said, starting to turn away from her.
"Sir?" Justin turned back around. "I'm trying not to question you, but... you can't think I'd be a good mom. I'll never not be a Winchester, or an angel, or a hunter. I'd never be able to devote myself to a baby."
"I'm not expecting you to raise it, Winchester. Just carry it, birth it. You will know the couple I've picked when you met them."
"Yes, sir."
"You can stop with the 'Yes, Sir's. 'Chuck' is fine. I think I'm going back to Chuck. This one is... people pay too much attention to a pretty face, you know?"
"Yes, sir... I mean... Naomi kinda... I'll work on that...Chuck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marion found her way to John's storage locker, opening a large metal chest. She pulled out and opened a jewelry box and grabbed the locket. It opened, easily.
'Bobby's library, Demonology by Franc. McCain' was scrawled across the inside of the locket.
Marion pulled out a book she had borrowed from Bobby and thought she'd lost. She flipped through the book and a letter fell out. She looked down at a piece of good parchment paper with a nice calligraphy handwriting on it.
"Marion. The locket opened, so I'm either dead or I have decided that you need to know the truth. I'm probably dead. If I am dead, Castiel probably cocked up the plan and you figured it out. Of course it's you. Not one of your brothers. Sam is smart but his ability to put together the events going on around him is primary school. I really like you Winchesters. You are amazing and infuriating. You keep me on my toes and make me work for every inch of ground I earn.
If you didn't figure it out, your boyfriend has been working with me for months now. We've been searching for Purgatory and using your brothers to find it. You were right. I had nothing to do with Sam coming back. I lied. And you saw right through it. Called me on my bull. And that was such an amazing thing. I can understand Moose and Squirrel talking to me that way. They've been hunting their whole lives. They have spit and bled on creatures that most people have never even had nightmares of.
You had none of their upbringing. Castiel told me about your life. Sheltered. Hidden away. Never knowing what is really out there until the angels fucked your life around. And then, suddenly faced with the harsh reality of the world your brothers have walked in for years, you flourish. You looked the King of Hell in the face and told him to piss off. I knew, immediately, that you were a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't the one who could reckon with you. Castiel had to do that.
I watched you a while. I listened to Castiel's stories of you. I told myself it was research, 'know thine enemy', but truth is, I was fascinated with you. At one point, the idiot wanted to break it off because he was sure you wouldn't be an issue anymore. I'd grown too dependent on living vicariously through that winged pest's stories that I convinced him to stick around. Instead of a real presence, I convinced him to leave you gifts. Every single one was picked by me. I put a lot of thought into every trinket he carelessly tossed at your sleeping form.
The roses all came from a bush climbing a trellis at the cemetery where your mother is buried. I went to ten antique bookstores to find a copy of Grimm that held true to the originals. The locket that brought you to this letter is an exact, custom-made replica of a necklace your mum wore at their wedding. He thought they were random gifts, but I put a lot of effort into things you never knew about.
And now that I've admitted to playing Cyrano to a holy man-child, I have to curse you. You made me feel. I've been a demon for hundreds of years and you made me feel like a bloody human. I did things in the background for you that I never even did for the Wallace woman I was married to when I was human. I am the demon King of Hell, what am I supposed to do with this unrequitable love that sprang up on me?
I hope I'm dead.'
"So. You are the one Crowley has been pining for." Marion turned to see a redhead in black leather standing just on the other side of her father's devil's trap at the door.
"Abaddon. Dean hasn't killed you yet?" Marion said, standing.
"You're funny. You must get that from Dean. No, I'm just collecting collateral against Crowley, your name was high on the list. King of Hell and an angel, huh? This is worse than the blood habit."
"I heard he's kicking that habit. And me, I'm not a player in this. I've got orders from pretty high up, to stay out of this fight, so I think I'll listen. Find some other collateral, Abaddon. I'm not playing." She said, before disappearing.
Marion walked around the country. She didn't fly, she didn't drive. She walked. Somehow, she wound up in a diner in rural Indiana, picking at a plate of spaghetti topped with an unnaturally bright red tomato sauce. The waitress had caught her eye as she'd walked by and that was the only reason she'd stopped in. "Somethin' wrong with the pasta, honey?" The server asked, walking up.
"I don't eat much anymore. It... takes some getting back used to. Can I bother you to take a seat?" Marion asked, gesturing to the opposite side of the booth. The waitress smiled and sat. "What's your name?"
"Claire."
"And your girlfriend?"
The server looked confused and scared, so Marion grabbed her hand and filled the young woman with grace. "My name is Marion. I'm an angel of the Lord. I'm not here to persecute you. I just want to talk. Please."
"Her name is Lillian. Lily."
"Okay. Claire, life mate of Lily, God sent me to you.
"God? But we're witches."
"God really doesn't distinguish. We're all his children and he calls upon us when we're needed." She pulled her hands away from the waitress'. "My story is a long, complicated one, but the part that concerns you, is the baby."
"Baby?"
"You've been getting blocked at the adoption agencies, haven't you? No one wants a lesbian couple to get their hands on a newborn, so no one is working with you. Right?"
Claire's eyes welled up. She couldn't speak, nodding. "A child will be born... about 7 months from now. Despite it's appearances, the child will not be human. It will be the first of it's kind. Half angel, half demon. It will need a pair of attentive, loving, parents, regardless of gender and sexuality. God chose you and Lily, likely because a loving set of witches could handle a nephilim child. This child will be powerful, more powerful than anything in the world. But God has determined the two of you can handle it."
Marion smiled sweetly, putting her hands on her belly. "It's a big job, and a crazy one, I know. But God needs you to do this."
"You're the one who's having the baby? You had sex with a demon?"
"I didn't really have a choice. It's complicated, but boils down to having sex with the King of Hell or permanently losing my humanity. I chose to hold onto my emotions."
"You can't care for the baby?"
Marion shook her head. "My life is too dangerous. I would never be able to keep the baby safe. And we could never hand it over to its father. He'd corrupt it."
Claire nodded. "I'd have to talk to Lily. I mean, this is a big decision. There would be major planning to go through."
"You're right, but I'm confident you'll make the right choice. Of course, I'll help take care of you, all three of you. God wants to make sure she has a happy childhood in a stable home."
"Like Jesus? Is he supposed to be like Jesus?"
"I think it's a girl... and no, I'm pretty sure she won't be the new Jesus. She's just going to be something new." Marion stood, dropping a few dollars on the table. "Pray to me and I will come to you." She said, before leaving the baffled waitress alone.