A/N: To everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed this story, thank you so much! It's the best motivator.
* I decided to make this fic more interesting by giving Meg a back story. No one knows how or why she became a demon, so I hope you enjoy that as her past slowly unfolds.

Heaven's Grief

I hope it's not just a bad dream,
Hope it's not just a sad dream. – "Sad Dream" by Sky Ferreira

Chapter Two: Safe

Welcome to Mississippi, it's like coming home. The bitter irony wasn't lost on me, as I continued walking barefoot down the road past the sign. I still needed answers and I knew of a place that might be able to provide them. Although, the likelihood that any demon would help me, rather than kill me given who I was, were slim to none.

If Crowley was behind my unfortunate situation, perhaps marching straight into the lion's den wouldn't be very clever on my part. But I didn't care.

I was supposed to be dead anyway.

The travel to Lloyd's Bar proved to be quite strenuous for a human. It sure took a hell of a lot longer getting there, than it used to. The bottoms of my feet were cut up, having stepped on shards of broken glass and unseen jagged rocks along my path. I ignored the sharp pain I could feel radiating throughout my body, as I pulled opened the door to the establishment. The loud rock music and heavy stench of the cigarette smoke overwhelmed my newly found senses.

But it sure made for a positive business environment.

Demons craved this sort of misery. It was intoxicating to them, being active participants in hell's ongoing pissing contest. How many souls did you have under your belt? Humans were ruled by their emotions. They could be controlled by their mundane urges; riches, revenge, love, and even loss. Most of them felt desperate or hopeless, which was usually referred to as an easy mark.

"Look at'cha! Why, you're covered in soot from top t' bottom!" A waitress stopped in her tracks, the look on her gentle face was now one filled with concern. "There's a bathroom straight over there." She pointed towards a hallway. "I suggest you make use of it, darlin'."

I slowly nodded, caught off guard from being spoken to directly. The restroom was empty when I went on in. The intense lighting was enough to harm my eyes more than the sun. Avoiding staring into the mirror, I turned on the sink and held onto the porcelain sides. The sound of the faucet running was oddly comforting.

Long brown curls fell forward, as I leaned my head down. I watched as the end of each strand untangled beneath the surface of the water, the grime turning it murky. Beside the sink was a towel dispenser. I soaked a few of them, bringing the paper cloth to my face with a trembling hand.

I didn't want to confirm what I already knew to be true, that when I was brought back as a human, I was placed back in my original packaging. And despite my best efforts to not look at my face ever again, I couldn't stop myself. Russet brown eyes stared back at me, large and glossy, as though they were about to pour over tears. The smooth, fair complexion that I'd always been envied for; I didn't want this skin, but it belonged to me.

Whatever – whoever put me back on this earth was kind enough to clothe me in a simple white gown. It did nothing to hide my figure or lack thereof. I was small and scrawny, back to being twenty years old. I couldn't stop fixing my eyes on the mirror, wiping away at the mud on my cold face, a part of me still wishing that I hadn't looked at all.

A tear rolled down my cheek and it felt warm and real.

"I see that you've taken to reading in the stables again." My mother pulled pieces of hay from my hair, as she voiced her disapproval sternly, "What should happen to us if you come down with a fever or a cough?"

I caught her troubled eyes in the mirror, "You speak of the Black Death?"

"I beg of you not to repeat this conversation to your sisters." I promised sincerely. My two younger sisters were my entire life. I would never carelessly place doubt or worry in their minds. Once she knew I was serious, she continued. "Three families have already fallen to its fatal hand. This plague is affecting everything that surrounds us. It is a dark cloud that hovers now."

Turning towards her, I gently held her shaking hands in my own. She was crying silently, something I have grown accustomed to, "I swear that nothing bad is going to befall on our family. Not to Jane, not to Sarah, and not to you." I wanted to add that I would never allow us to wither away like my late father had, but I didn't have it in me.

"Megan, you are a good child." She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "Lord William shall see you as so as well." I heard the hopeful tone in her voice. Marrying me off to an older man was not only her way of protecting me, but it was the only way my family could survive as well, so I didn't fight it.

The door opened, startling me out of my stupor. The memory left me feeling vulnerable and alone. The price of having a soul meant revisiting the past and I wasn't yet prepared. I took a seat at a table in the back, grabbing the attention of the same waitress from earlier. Her smile met her eyes, matching well with the pep in her step, "Hiya, hun! Ya'll better now?"

"Yes, thank you." She handed me a menu, even though she probably knew that I didn't have any money; my tattered, dirty attire should have made it obvious.

"Whatever you want, it's on the house." Her kindness was starting to frighten me. I was still considering how to react to it, when she beamed back another sweet smile, "Let me help ya out some? How about I get you a nice tall glass of Mississippi's finest iced lemonade and if you're hungry, I could ask our cook to make you a juicy cheeseburger with a side of fries?"

"Maybe a glass of water-" I stopped mid-sentence, watching as she scooted herself inside the booth across from me. Her eyes were smoldering and I could visibly see now that there was something more about her than the ordinary. "Or I could send your ugly ass straight back to hell."

Set up the bait and there's the tug.

A demon.

"That's fine by me." I looked at her very seriously then, meaning every word. "But before we do that, I'm just dying to know why I was brought back. Who resurrected me? For what cause?"

Her red lips turned up into a sly smile, remaining silent. It occurred to me that not even she knew why, that – or she wasn't allowed to say. In my time as a demon, I'd learned how to seem spitefully amused and this situation was no different. This demon was exhibiting textbook behavior and I knew that she wouldn't be able to help me.

I followed her outside, watching the vessel's legs steadily walking among trees, as she led me into a forest. She stopped when she thought we'd gone far enough, wasting no time as she bent my body to her will, and forced me to my knees with no real effort.

"See, Meg. You're one of the top four on hell's most wanted list. At least, you used to be, before Crowley stabbed you through. In fact, wasn't it right about there?" She tilted the vessel's blond head at me, her dark eyes going from mine to the now fresh wound on my stomach. I could feel the warm blood flowing out of me, seeping through my clothes, and dripping onto the ground.

"You're not going to scream for me? What, two seconds as a human and you already have dignity. That makes this more fun. You should still know how this works." I could feel her power going around in circles, the wind shifting the air into strong gusts, until it focused me. I heard a sickening snap of bones as she threw me into a tree. A few of my ribs were broken from the force.

"Joining up with the Winchesters…" She released me, leaving me to fall hard to the solid ground. I've forgotten that being human really sucked. I shakily tried getting to my feet, but the pain had me right back down, "…and that filthy backstabbing angel! He's not even cutout to whisper in the halls of hell and you know what, I'm waiting for the day that Crowley gives him much worse."

I felt lightheaded and weak. It was difficult to keep my eyes open against the pain. I coughed up the thick blood that had begun filling in my throat. She crouched down next to me, mock pitying me with a look of compassion. "You poor thing, did you actually think they would warm up to you? Even now, do you think they would give a shit about your sacrifice? Do you think he even cared that you were dead?"

I never expected Castiel to care for me, even when he outright demonstrated that he did.

"Are you planning to sweet-talk me all night or were you actually going to kill me?" I gasped through a bitter, painful fit of laughter. Things were becoming harder to see and even the light was turning dark. I would really just like to die now.

"Welcome home, Meg." She smirked cruelly, as she moved her hand, manipulating and shaping her power. That's when I experienced the most profound torment I have ever known, an unnatural affliction that had my insides burning, a scream escaping from deep within my chest.

My body writhed violently, arching and crashing against the pure agony. It would only take seconds before it was over. I knew that I couldn't last for much longer and that no one would save me. I was slipping away and I was fine with it. This was how it was meant to be anyway.

"Not exactly." The familiar, deep voice struck me like ice. I almost couldn't believe it, the more reasonable part of me still wouldn't, but the demon's compulsion had ceased completely. I opened my eyes long enough to watch Castiel's palm pressed firmly to the vessel's forehead, smiting her with ease. Light poured from her eyes and mouth as she cried out.

"Nnhh…I-I…C-Cla…" I whimpered. My vision, blurring to the point of ineffectiveness, I gave up on trying to see. I felt him grab my hand, when I reached out for him. I knew he wouldn't give me death, even if I begged him to.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner." His other hand came up to the side of my face. My pain was being soothed by every touch. I felt the back of his thumb softly caress my cheek as he quietly murmured, "Rest."

The darkness came swiftly, enveloping me in warmth and contentment.

-
TBC