{Random A/N: the Cheryl in this story is the username bandnerd2669, so you should totally check her work out. Please review!}
After a tedious and disgusting trip to a nearby Denton high school (where Cheryl waited in the car) Sam, Dean and I snuck into the FFA barn and efficiently drained their beautiful blue-ribbon winning baby lamb of its blood into an empty gas can by means of a funnel and quickly made our return to the motel. Once we arrived, there was a bit of confusion as to how we were going to sneak lamb's blood into all the dorm halls inconspicuously. One burst of genius and a short drive to the pharmacy later and we were armed with sterilized nail polish bottles filled with the quickly congealing stuff. The idea was to each take a hall and paint a stripe above each dorm doorframe, but the brothers had obviously forgotten that Cheryl and I were 5'4" and 5'3", respectively. Needless to say, it took us a bit longer to finish our sections and by the time we had successfully protected every dorm, it was late and I was ready to pass out. At 3 in the morning, the four of us stood in the hallway outside my dorm room trying unsuccessfully to whisper. "You girls did pretty great today," Dean said with a small smile. "You not only came up with some really well thought out ideas, but you held up with all the busy work too; surprising, considering how short you both are." I smacked him in the arm. "Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed. "Don't be a baby. That was barely a love-tap," I retorted, giggling.
"Well, we'll see you tomorrow. We're going to get Cas to summon and talk some sense into Azrael. If it gets too dangerous, I want you two to get out of there, okay?" Dean said as he leaned in and put his hands on my shoulders. His eyes searched mine. "This is THE angel of death and she can kill you with a single flick of the wrist. Wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire." I stood there stunned. My mouth ran dry and I couldn't feel my feet. I heard Cheryl tapping her foot on the wall that she leaned against. I knew she was getting antsy.
"Well, okay," I whispered hoarsely. "Whatever you say." Dean chuckled and stepped back, side by side with Sam. They looked down the hall at the RA who was doing random night sweeps of the all-girls hall and power-walked to the door across from my room. Sam raised his hand in farewell and they disappeared down the three flights of steps, their boots thundering down the narrow stairwell.
The next morning was weird. Cheryl had stayed in my room, but my roommate had already been asleep when we got in, so we woke up extra early to get ready and leave for class so she would not freak out seeing some strange girl in my bed. I had texted Sam before I went into history class at 5 pm, 'Are we meeting today and where?', but received no reply, so I was shocked by their sudden appearance midway through my professor's rant on the economic standard during one of the World Wars. Dean and Sam were in their "FBI" outfits, sunglasses included, even though they were inside. I snorted and calmly packed up my bag as they flashed their fake badges at Mr. Rinkleff, claiming that they were agents Paige and Plant and that I needed to "come with them immediately for questioning". Rinkleff sputtered and threw down his chalk saying something about how uncalled for this was as the rest of my 300-plus classmates stared after me, whispering about whatever they thought I had done. As soon as we entered the once crowded hallway, I burst out laughing.
"Pretty conspicuous, don't you think, guys?"
"Whatever," Dean said. "We were in a hurry."
"And we were already carrying the badges. Might as well use them." Sam said as he strode ahead on his freakish legs to meet Cheryl who was waiting by the door of the building. She smiled and took out one of her headphones to talk, pointing to her backpack. "They already got me from class. Said that I was wanted for questioning in a murder case. My flute professor was so terrified!" I laughed and mimicked Rinkleff's face as I walked out, head hanging as if in shame. We started walking towards the parking lot where the Impala was parked. Midway to the car which was parked on the edge of the lot, away from everything else Cheryl stopped.
The light breeze that had been steadily blowing seemed to fall at our feet. The air positively crackled and shivers shot up my spine as I turned to look at her. Cheryl's whole body tensed and her pupils blew so wide I thought she was going blind. Her mouth cracked open, a sliver that looked like it wanted to grow to match the sensation growing within her, but was restrained by this newfound ailment's power. Cheryl's pajama pants and marching band hoodie started rippling. It wasn't wind, but rather it looked like her clothes were trying to crawl off of her to escape the power bursting forth. She was like dusty glass; solid, but nearly transparent, then the world felt like it was shattering around us. Her arms shot out to her sides with a quick snapping sound. The voice that emerged from her sounded like it was searing her throat, scalding with white fire. It wasn't so much words spilling from her mouth as it was a shrill screaming noise, so harsh and quickly rising in volume until me, Dean and Sam had to clasp hands over our ears for fear of bursting our eardrums. Waves of sheer power and vibrations sliced through the air as they pumped out of her throat in a steady stream. She stood there, her head thrown back and her eyes beginning to fill up with a bright white light, starting from the center of her pupils and melting outwards, filling to the rim and pulsing outward. I screamed, terrified. "What's happening to her?" I ran to her to try to hold her down, to cover her eyes, mouth, anything but I couldn't get close. The light from her eyes enveloped her completely and I could only stand back and shield my watering eyes. From behind me, strong arms (probably Dean's) wrapped tightly around my ribs and stomach, pulling me back to safety. In the midst of the light, I peeked through my fingers and was astonished to see the outline of a magnificent double set of wings unfurl from her back to spread against the darkness of the early evening sky above. They were massive, from tip to tip probably ten feet or more. The outline was very faint, but when they beat forward in a sudden wave I could feel the rush of wind smack me in the face. In the space of two seconds, the wings were gone and the light sucked back into her body. Cheryl glowed for a second and then her color faded back into a flushed pink. Her eyes rolled heavily in their sockets and she swayed on her feet. Sam rushed forward and caught her with one arm, bringing her to his chest as she fainted dead away. Twisting with her, he knelt down and gently laid her on the gravel, adjusting so that her head was resting right above his knee. Dean and I quickly came to their sides and fell to our knees. I was sobbing hard, my hands fluttering around her still face, hovering but not actually touching. "Cheryl!" I called out, beginning to panic when she didn't immediately wake up.
She stirred, her eyes opening to reveal honey-golden eyes instead of their normal dark brown. They twinkled mischievously and her face split into an enormous grin. The voice that came out of her mouth was in no way hers, but a jovial and quite MALE voice.
"Hey there, knuckleheads! And girl." He/she added with a nod as an afterthought.
"GABRIEL?" Sam's eyes spilled over in obvious joy as he leaned forward to clutch Cheryl's body with a breath-stopping hug, one that rivaled the one he gave Dean after seeing him returned from Hell. For a few moments, everyone held still as Sam blubbered into Cheryl/Gabriel's hair. Gabriel cleared his throat sheepishly and sat up, gently removing Sam from his space. "Sammy boy, as much as I appreciate the obvious hero-worship you display, your freakish pecs are pressing into this girl's clavicle and she does not appreciate that." He smiled, Cheryl's face radiating warmth. I fell back in shock from where I was perched on my knees and Dean did the same beside me, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "How did? What the? Who the?" Dean stuttered. Gabriel laughed, the sound bouncing off the air like crystal bells.
"Honestly," Gabriel started, "I don't know. It takes some powerful angel mojo to reconstruct a mostly-dead Archangel."
"Mostly dead?" I asked, bewildered.
"Where would angels go after gettin' shivved besides Heaven? Nah, we just kind of... float about in bits and pieces. Only a few beings are powerful enough to put us back together. And it feels like I'm completely reborn. I've gotten all my Grace back." Gabriel stood up and wiped down his (Cheryl's) front.
"What about my friend Cheryl?" I demanded. "Don't you have to agree to get possessed? Not that we're not completely happy to see you," I backpedaled when Gabriel turned to me and tilted his head slightly and raised his eyebrow.
"But she did say yes, albeit silently. I was without form so I could only communicate through her mind. She's my official vessel. Ask her yourself." Gabriel's face fell and a shudder ransacked Cheryl's body. When she raised her head, her eyes were back to their normal color although a bit unfocused. She rubbed her temples and looked around. "Bella!" she cried out as she stuck out her hand to help me up from the ground. The sun was nearly finished setting behind us and two streetlights turned on overhead, bathing us in an orange-yellow glow. I pulled her into a hug and stepped back to look her over. Other than an unnatural amount of heat emanating from her, she seemed the same. "You were hearing an archangel talk to you and you didn't TELL me?" I fumed. Cheryl put up her hands in defense.
"Hey, I'm allowed to have my own religious epiphanies in private, aren't I? Besides... I didn't know it would actually work."
"So... you two are sharing your body?" Dean asked from his seat on the gravel.
"I guess so," Cheryl said, turning to him. She helped him up and he stood on shaky legs for a moment then walked over to the Impala and leaned against the hood, breathing deeply.
"What's it like?" Sam finally spoke to Cheryl. "I mean, for you. When Lucifer was in me, I couldn't even feel myself inside anymore, everything was just pain and darkness, but you seem to be... cohabiting your body."
"It's weird. It's like, summer inside me! I can feel him right underneath... inside me." She broke into giggles, and despite my remaining trepidation, I joined her. "But it's not all bad. I feel... protected, safer than I've ever felt on my own." Cheryl smiled.
{A/N: You guys... reviews make me continue (or quit forever). Silence makes me nervous.}