The first thing Jackie noticed when she regained consciousness was that she was very warm. Her eyes slowly opened and she took a deep breath through her nose, but immediately tried to stop due to the dry smell. She looked up and saw that she was in a dimply lit, smoky, hazy hotel room. She subconsciously coughed as she surveyed her surroundings.
Ezariel stood off to her right, watching her intently with his now normal, hazel eyes. She let out a groan of pain as the pounding headache she had developed washed over her. She looked at Ezariel as if asking him silently to explain his presence. He looked at her disapprovingly and said, "I know what you've been up to." Jay remained silent. "I never possibly imagined you letting yourself go like you have these past few months. It's worse than it was when we last spoke."
"You're gonna give me the 'pull-yourself-together' speech? I never thought I'd get that from a demon, let alone you," Jay replied.
"I thought it would be Sam, personally, but he's fallen a little off the train as well. That leaves me."
"I haven't spoken to Sam for months," Jay said, sitting herself up slowly and wincing from the pain. "Is he okay?"
"He's alive. He's with his own demon friends. Seems we're saving the day," he said cryptically.
"Ruby," Jackie said darkly.
"Ruby's in a nicer state than you've been for the past three months, Jaclyn Beckett," he said, coming to sit on the end of the bed she was lying on.
Jackie took a moment to glare at him. "What are you doing here, E?"
"I'm here to pick you up out of your ashes, Jay, whether you like it or not."
"I don't think I need the help of a demon."
"Don't be so racist. I'm trying to help you." E hesitated before adding, "Dean would have never wanted to see you like this."
Jackie swooped up and furiously pushed Ezariel into the wall he was sitting in front of and snarled in his ear. "Don't you dare talk about Dean," she spat out.
His eyes calmly surveyed the bags under her eyes, the scars on her wrists. He reached out a gently took hold of her wrist and ran his thumb along one of the vertical scars. She met his eyes ashamedly and gulped.
"Someone like you is much too precious to be wasted on grief and mourning," he said simply.
Her anger faltered and died, and she dropped onto her knees, tears rolling slowly and silently down her cheeks. He picked her up by her elbows and sat her on the bed again. He then brushed her hair out of her face with his hands and whispered in her ear. "Let me help you."
Jay shivered slightly and then met his gaze again. "How?"
He smiled slightly. "Simple. We retrain you. Teach you some new things. Get you back out there. And then, we kill the little bitch who put you in this state in the first place."
"You want me to kill Lillith," Jackie said, as more of a statement than a question.
"We both want her gone. I can't do it myself, Jay, and you can't get back on the top of your game by yourself. We need each other."
Jay considered Ezariel's words. He was an odd demon. Ezariel was the brother of Azazel, the yellow-eyed demon. He never had the support his brother possessed, but after Azazel's passing, he's stepped up to the plate as the leader of the demon army. He still had competitors for his title, however, and that's why he couldn't kill another demon; his reputation would be ruined. However, there were still some demons he needed taken out, which is why he'd recruited Jackie.
"Why are you after Lillith?" Jackie asked, wiping a tear from under he eye.
Ezariel's expression hardened. "She's intent on accomplishing a feat I hope never to see unleashed on this earth."
After a minute, Jackie half-whispered, "Why did you come looking for me? Why have you been watching me?"
Ezariel raised an eyebrow and his face showed a thoughtful expression. "I came because believe it or not, I care about what happens to you. It's time to get back on your feet, Jaclyn."
Jay looked up at the use of her full name. Ezariel usually called her Jay or 'gorgeous' or 'delicious' or some other pet name. Ezariel looked at her in curiosity for a moment and then the corner of his mouth twitched and twisted into a crooked grin. He put his hands on her waist and slowly guided her back into a lying position. He then got up and crouched beside her, sweeping a strand of stray hair behind her ear absentmindedly.
"Get some sleep. Actually, get lots of sleep. When your ready to go through a bit of pain, and I mean that literally, I'll be in the next room." He made to get up but Jackie caught his arm.
"Pain?" she asked curiously.
He grinned again. "How to withstand severe pain and torture, to be exact. Your first lesson. That is, of course, if you agree to this little crash course?"
Jackie's eyes narrowed for a moment and then, deciding it was time, she nodded.
"Good. Then it should be a party. Sleep, love," he said.
And she did.