strangers when we met

4

Meg's body was being torn apart.

Or at least, that was how it felt like. It came down her spine and made her scream, louder than before, as if her lungs wanted to escape her bloodied mouth. The lights overhead sputtered sparkles and then burst, making Mary cry out in surprise. Castiel remained calmly between Meg's open legs, but the creases in his forehead were deeper than ever before.

"I can see something," he said. "I think..."

Mary also ran to gander between her legs and Meg would've made a joke about it if she had been able to produce a sound that wasn't an incoherent scream.

"Oh, this baby is coming fast!" she said. "Cas, hold her up. Meg, you need to push, okay? With the next contraction, push her down."

"I have no idea..." Meg began to protest, but the protest died in her lips with another shout.

Castiel's hands gently held her by the waist. She leaned down against his strong, firm body with relief and rested her head against his shoulder. At least he was there. She could allow herself a moment to be weak if he was there.

"Clarence, listen. You have to keep her safe. Promise me..."

Castiel held her hand so tight it would have crushed her if she had been human. With the other one, he brushed aside the damp locks of her hair from her forehead.

"We'll keep her safe," he whispered. "The both of us."

Meg wanted to believe it. There were moments where convinced herself that she was going to get through this, no matter what, and moments when she was certain her heart would gave out. It felt like dying.

It felt like when Crowley had dug his blade deep into her guts and she had felt the life escaping her, how she couldn't hold on anymore to the body that had been hers for years. Except this was slower and a hundred times more intense. But she couldn't let go and vanish into nothingness like she'd done then. She was the only thing keeping that body alive and she couldn't falter, because if she did...

The contraction surprised her, but she managed to ride the wave of pain and do as Mary had told her: forcing every single cell, every single atom in her soul to push down, to help that little will that belonged to her and at the same time not out.

With a wail, her body split in two.

There were sirens howling in time with her and red lights flashing in the darkness. Castiel was by her side, his eyes glowing silver instead of blue, his hands holding her tight and his lips moving, though she couldn't make out what he was saying.

And then, above it all, above the noise and the light and her own exhaustion, a sharp cry that soon became a full on wail that echoed against the walls of the small room.

The pain remitted, just enough for Meg to breath out a sigh of relief.

"It's..." Mary looked up at her from the other of the bed. Her eyes were wide open and her jaw slacked, as if she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. "It's... a girl, I think..."

"Well, of course it's a girl," Meg groaned, closing her eyes.

She didn't really mean to pass out.

But the darkness engulfed her faster than she could fight it.

She was dreaming again.

She sat upon a tree stump, looking at the forest in front of her. The breeze rustled the trees' leaves and cooled her fevered skin. That was the only sound she could perceive and that was fine by her. She was happy. She was content.