Chapter 18: The Long and Short of It

"Fear of a bully, fear of a volcano; the power within you does not distinguish. It does not recognize degree." ― N.K. Jemisin

"I was getting breakfast. Couldn't sleep. I met a demon. Well two."

Jack looked on concerned as Sam pulled her over to the couch and sat her down. "You okay?" he asked, while grabbing her glass of water.

"Yeah. Yeah. A bit frazzled." She gave a nervous laugh. "I tried to fight back." She accepted the water and took a small sip.

Sam smiled softly at her, "Looks like you did more than try."

He puttered around, getting the medical kit and asked Jack to wet a wash cloth. Jack returned, and slid next to her on the couch, "You got hurt." He muttered, concerned.

Riley patted the kid's hair, soothing him. She gave him and Sam a weak smile, "I'm not sure I would have won on my own." Riley felt tears start to well in her eyes, and she buried her face against her knees to hide it. Jack looked on panicked, not sure what to do.

Luckily Sam knew how to handle this kind of thing. "You're allowed to be scared. It was your first fight. I didn't do so well my first one either."

"Yeah." She sniffed slightly. "One of them was just a kid. But he threw me against the counter like I was nothing."

"You're that strong too Rye. You just need to learn how to tap into it. And we'll work more on your hand to hand. By the time you face anything again, you'll be kicking ass and taking names. Though it you are already."

Riley snorted, "Yeah right." She sighed, pulled her face away, glad no tears had escaped. "But I'm going to get better. Which sounds lame because I keep saying that."

"You are better than when you started. I bet you landed some punches."

"I shot one of them. Not that it did anything."

"You hit one!" Jack grinned.

Sam grinned too, "See. You're way better than when you began."

"Yeah?" She looked hopeful.

"Of course." He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder before beginning to clean her cuts. "So, you went for breakfast?"

"Yeah. Is Dean mad?"

"About what?" He looked confused.

"The Impala?"

"You mean what Gabriel did?"

"No. My note, that I was borrowing it."

"Oh." Sam let out a laughed. "Oh God. Dean will be so relieved."

"What?" Riley stared at him.

"We saw a note saying you'd gone to get breakfast, but it didn't mention the car. We assumed you flew. Then when Dean went outside, he found the Impala shrunk down to kid car sized and pink."

"It looks like a barbie car."

Riley's hand flew to her mouth, as she tried to stop a laugh. "Oh no."

"Yeah, he was freaking out screaming Gabriel's name."

"I can imagine." She giggled. "I did leave a note saying I was borrowing it to go get the food. I felt like driving."

"No that's great. Means Gabriel's trick wasn't on the actual car. Dean will be really relieved."

"It's very interesting." Jack said, "I like it."

Riley smiled, "I really want to see the pink car."

Sam grinned, "Once we finish patching you up."

"My healing will kick in." It was still passive, but it was working, as her lip had already started to heal up. "Another thing on the list." She sighed.

"Remember what Castiel said; your body is still getting used to its angelic properties. And the more you use them, the more you'll be able to use them."

"Yeah."

"So the blood…."

"Angels still bleed. Just takes a lot for it to happen. But you have, what, two cuts? Most humans don't walk out of a fight with two demons."

"You're still a new angel." Gabriel said, appearing next to her on the couch. "You're still growing into your powers. Eventually you won't bleed unless you're hit with an angel blade or something like that."

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked, not surprised by his sudden reappearance.

"Driving the car." The archangel said. He reached over and took Riley's face in his hand, studying her lip. "I can heal you, if you want."

Sam made himself busy, spreading out the food on the table, patently ignoring them. Jack still watched them, fascinated.

"Yes please."

Still cradling her face in one hand, Gabriel put his other to her forehead. Riley closed her eyes as she felt a tingling rush of power that banished all her aches and bruises. Opening her eyes, she met Gabriel's golden ones.

"Thank you."

He released her face, almost reluctantly. "We need to kickstart all your abilities, sooner than later." He leaned back. "I might need to ask some of the other angels to help with your training. Usually it takes years to train fledglings, but we need to get you up to speed much quicker. Or sequester you in Heaven."

"That's not happening."

"It's a bad idea anyway. It's possible that trying to take you too early could injure you." At her confused look he continued, "You don't have a vessel, which is a bit unorthodox as angels generally tend to be unable to fully manifest in this realm without one."

"Okay….." Riley trailed off.

He sighed. "Think of it like this. Angels are born on another plane of existence – Heaven. To come to his one, most angels are trying to fit all their grace at once into this plane of existence because they don't have the time or ability to manifest here. So to appear quickly and with some form of power, they have to borrow a conduit. Something that already exists in this realm. This is unlike you and I."

She didn't say anything, so he continued: "When I fled Heaven, I shed most of my grace and came from one plane to the other slowly, but fully. This allowed me to virtually disappear – which was the point. It took hundreds of years to cross the planes like that. And even after I had, it took me a long time to build a form and then to reacquire my grace. So I had a time advantage on most angels. Now that I'm fully powered with grace, I can cross the planes a lot easier. And still keep my own form." He glanced at Sam, wondering how much the hunter was listening.

"Go on." Riley murmured, encouraging him.

"You have two advantages. One, you already exist in this realm, and two your grace is building slowly and integrating with your system slowly."

"But the initial process was relatively quick, to go from human to angel." She murmured.

"Yes, but your powers didn't immediately manifest, nor did your full grace. Anyway, it allows you to exist in your own body in this realm, like me. But, unlike me, you've never been to Heaven before. This creates your disadvantage. Because moving to that realm might end up being like the reverse of either the normal angels or myself. Thus, I want you at full power before you attempt going."

"You think I'd die?"

He shook his head, "No. I'm not worried about your survival. Your grace is thoroughly intertwined with your soul, so your essence would survive." He grimaced, "But your body might evaporate. And you're not strong enough, nor do you have enough training to rebuild a body. Otherwise you wouldn't be bleeding at all."

Riley lowered her voice, "Why does it sound like you're unhappy my grace and soul are intertwined?"

He sighed, "I was hoping we'd find a way to get you back to human."

Riley felt like a weight had been dropped in her gut, "But I'm just getting used to being an angel. Don't you like me like this?" Her voice sounded strong, which surprised her. Even though it was slightly hypocritical of her, since it wasn't so long ago she wanted to go back to being human too, it was different coming from him.

"I like you as you are, Rye." His voice was soft, "But I'd like you to be away from this life. Hunters aren't known for being long lived. And if you hadn't noticed, angels are an endangered species. It's not safe."

Riley had a lot of questions. And she was itching to ask. But at that that point, the door opened, revealing Dean. He glared at Gabriel but didn't actually try anything.

"You okay, Rye?" Dean asked, eyeing her.

"Yep. All healed up. Sorry about borrowing the car."

"It's all good." He said, wandering toward the food. "Thanks for breakfast."

She nodded, eyes turning once again to Gabriel. "You staying? I have some questions."

"No. I can't." He didn't sound happy about it. "I've got to get back."

"Ah. Makes sense."

"I'll keep my ear out. Call me if you need me." He reached over and touched her hand briefly.

Riley smiled back, "Okay."

And then he was just gone.

"You two need to just do the horizontal tango and give all of us some peace." Dean muttered, causing Riley to fluster and Sam to gape.

"I don't know what that means." Jack said.

Sam waved Jack off and muttered "When you're older."

Dean continued, "Oh please. You like him. He likes you. You're both killing me with those come hither looks at each other." Dean shoved one of the breakfast sandwiches into his mouth.

"So." Sam said clearing his throat, and thankfully changing the topic, "Let's eat, grab our gear, and hit the road?"

"Yeah." Riley said, following his lead. "I'm good to go." Even though she was still slightly shaken – both by the demon attack, by Dean's comment, and by what Gabriel had said.