Chapter 2: Waiting is the Hard Part

Riley West was hard working. A good Catholic girl who'd put herself through undergrad and then law school. At 30 years old, she'd became pillar of her community working as a lawyer in Boston who championed for small businesses, people who were taken advantage of by the system, and volunteered for domestic violence clinics.

She was bright, witty, a tad sarcastic. And she had a sweet tooth. Which was why she spend much of her time off (ha!) at a gym trying to make sure the sugar did not stick to her already curvy frame.

She was disarming, and thus very good at having her opponents underestimate her. 5'3, with an easy smile that usually reached into her grey-blue eyes. Curly blonde hair, which although seemed attempted to be contained, had a few wisps escaping to frame her face and give her impish look.

Riley was attractive, in the girl next store way. But her tongue was a weapon. One she used to decimate opposing counsel in the court room.

—–

It was a Friday. There was nothing particularly special about it. At least not yet…

Riley was on her way out of a hard-won hearing. She'd finally succeeded on getting a restraining order for a woman that had been stalked by her ex.

Riley's plans were to entrench herself in her small office for the evening, then go home and enjoy a nice glass of wine and dinner. It was a quiet life, but a good one.

What Riley hadn't been expecting was a young man to stop her just outside the courthouse. He was looking at her with an odd light in his eyes.

"Can I help you?" She smiled, hoping he was just lost.

"Yes, I hope so." He smiled back. "You're a good person." He held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"Ah…" Riley stared at his hand. It was impolite not to take it, but she was also a no nonsense New England girl. And weird kid on the street sent all sorts of red flags. Good manners won out, and she took his hand anyway.

A spark, like an electric snap of energy had her pulling her hand back quickly. "Um… nice to meet you, kid, but I'm on my way back to him office. What can I do for you?" She asked, rubbing her hand.

The boy didn't seem offended by her sudden pulling away. "A lady came out, said you saved her."

"Oh." Her client. "Well, I helped her get a restraining order. Do you need legal help?"

"No." He frowned, "Not that kind of help. I need you to help save Heaven."

Riley blinked back, flabbergasted. "What?"

"That women, she said you were on the side of angels. That you saved her."

Riley blushed at the compliment, but a frown marred her lips. "I'm just a lawyer kid. I'm not an angel. If you need legal help, that I can do. I'll pray for you though."

The kids seemed satisfied with this, and turned around, disappearing down the street.

Sighing, Riley shouldered her bag and headed to her office, thinking she might that glass of wine a bit sooner than dinner.

—

A t-ride later, back at her office, Riley was reading over some documents. She'd told her secretary and paralegal to go home, to enjoy their weekend. As the late afternoon sunlight draped her office golden light, Riley felt a strange pang of pain. It was an alien feeling, not a pain he could name.

She tried to ignore it, but it got progressively worse, and it started spreading. She managed through the evening, the train ride home. Through people gave her strange looks at the occasional sounds of pain she made.

That night, she tossed and turned. Then, she started glowing. "Huh." It was 3 am.

Riley was not unfamiliar with the strange, though she'd never directly come in contact with it. An acquaintance, Jody Mills, had once told her some interesting stories after they'd done some catching up and drinking… okay, more than a little drinking. Jody had called Riley a couple years back, looking for some legal advice on adoption. Apparently, Jody had taken in some kids that needed some help. Riley had been happy to offer her assistance. They'd had a good time celebrating the legal victory when the paperwork went through.

Riley liked Jody, respected her; but she had never really believed any of Jody's stories.

Still, sitting in her office glowing a weird soft gold, Jody was the first person Riley thought of. She pulled up the number on her cell and after a brief hesitation, called Jody.

"Sheriff Mills." It was an efficient greeting, but the voice was warm.

"Jody, it's Riley West. Sorry to wake you."

"Riley! Is everything okay?"

"It's good. Er…." A wave of pain hit her at that moment, "Okay, maybe not good."

"What's going on?"

"You remember those stories you told me, about the weird stuff, that night we were drinking."

Jody sighed, "I remember."

"I'm glowing and in serious pain."

"Glowing?" Disbelief colored Jody's voice. "Like?"

"Like a fricken light bright." Riley's retort was biting. "Sorry." She murmured after a moment.

Jody sighed into the phone, "Did you meet a young man, looks like a teenager. Probably wearing flannel. Light brown hair?"

"On the street. Shook my hand." Riley sighed, "What is he?"

"That's a really long story. Where are you? How long ago did you see him. I need to get someone to you right away."

"You owe me that story. In my apartment in Southie. Earlier today."

"Shit." Jody said under her breath. "Stay on the line, I'm going to call a friend." The line went silent as Jody pulled up Sam's number and dialed.

Dean and Sam had hunkered down in a hotel room in Rhode Island for the night. There hadn't been sign of Jack for several days, so Castiel had taken off to continue the search for the prophet while the Winchesters continued the search for Jack.

"Hello?" Sam's groggy voice came across the line after several rings.

"Sam. It's Jody Mills, I have a friend. She met Jack today." Sam sat bolt upright in bed.

"And?"

"And she she's showing signs, it's been hours Sam. You might not make it in time."

"Where?"

"Boston."

Sam cursed and jostled Dean, "Dude, we gotta go. Jack sighting, Boston. Jody's friend is showing signs."

"I'll text you her address. ETA?"

"We're a couple hours out." Sam frowned.

"You won't make it."

"No. We won't." Came his sad reply.

Jody hung up with him and switched back over to Riley, "Hey, Riley, you still there?"

"Yep."

"I've got friends heading your way. They'll be there as soon as they can."

"Thanks Jody."

"Of course. Want me to stay on the line?" Jody hoped her fear didn't leak through the line.

"No. No. Go back to bed. I'll be here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Riley sighed, "Thanks again. Night."

"Night…" Jody let the word drag, and stared at her phone as the line went dead.

—–

Sam and Dean were in the Impala within in minutes, but they already knew they wouldn't make it. Dean called out to Cas, but got no reply.

Finally, Sam broke down and called for Gabriel.

They had a very complicated relationship with the former trickster, but still, he would help with this. Gabriel showed up for a minute but disappeared the moment the request left Sam's lips. Dean just frowned in the rearview and stepped on the gas.

—

The apartment was homey. It smelled like sugar cookies and cinnamon. There were green plants by the windows and dishes in the sink. A blanket was thrown haphazardly on the couch. A glass of wine sat half empty on the coffee table. Books were stacked on the floor, with various tabs sticking out at every angle.

Gabriel took it all in in an instant, as he surveyed the home of Jack's latest victim. He liked it, he decided. It was warm.

Gabriel had a tendency to move faster than the other angels. This had to do with his not-vessel. When he'd left heaven and gone into his pseudo witness protection, he'd managed to strike a deal with the demi-gods for a spell that had allowed him to move about the earthly plane in his own body. He'd channeled his grace into a form. Thus, it was his body, at least, a representation of it anyway. It gave him more freedom, and having spent centuries in it, he knew his own capabilities quite well. Which included a bit faster flight than most of his siblings. Helped with the running away….

He found the girl in the bedroom, curled up on the floor in a ball, glowing like starlight in the darkness. "Hi." He softened his voice. She jumped slightly, throwing a panicked look in his direction. "Easy sugar, I'm here to help. You called, your friend asked me to come."

She frowned at him, "How'd you get in?"

"I flew."

She snorted out a laugh. An endearing sound that had Gabriel's lips quirking up into a smile.

"It's a long story, I'll explain later." He walked toward her slowly, and knelt down by her side. "Okay sugar, I'm just going to touch your forehead, okay?"

Trickster, former Norse god, archangel. Gabriel was powerful and could border on cruel, but he was always the most human like of his siblings. He understood them, having spent so much time earth side. So the sympathy, the kindness, it was not fake. Which was why Riley gave him a small nod, acquiescing to his touch.

Riley was scared. She'd hoped that Jody would laugh at her off the phone, tell her she was dreaming. Instead Jody was sending help. That was scary. It meant this was real. Riley did not want to deal with it.

But here help was. A man, whom she would say was on the shorter side of tall, his features obscured in the darkness of her room. But kneeling by her side, she could see his whiskey colored eyes. His touch was warm, as his hand slid onto her forehead. He felt, maybe not safe, but something close to it.

He made a sound of displeasure, "Father damn it." He murmured.

That could not be good. "Am I dying?" She murmured.

"I want to lie." He said, honestly. He already knew it was to late. The grace had already worked its way into her system, was already changing her body on a molecular level. She was likely dying, and there wasn't anything he could do about it at this point. Just wait.

"Oh." Riley didn't cry. Though the sound she made was bordering a whimper.

This sound was how Gabriel found himself sliding next to the women on the floor, back pressing against the wall next to her, and arms dragging her soft form against him.

Riley thought, briefly, about resisting, but felt too weak to do much more than be dragged into the man's arms. For his part, Gabriel did take away as much of the pain as he could, sending what healing he could. This at least allowed her to soften into his embrace, head falling against his shoulder with a sigh.

They sat in the room, waiting for the end.