Defying Gravity (Book One: Supernatural fanfic)

The Man Who Would Be King

Flashback

I walked through the Garden of Heaven, watching a man fly a kite, turning to see many Angels in suits stand nearby.

Rachel was one of them. "You're alive. You're... an Angel again."

I nodded, smiling a small smile. "Yeah."

"Octavia, we saw what the blast did to you," Rachel told me. "You were human."

"Well, I'm completely healed, now," I told them.

"But Lucifer?" Rachel asked. "Michael?"

I walked closer. "They're gone."

"It was God, wasn't it?" Rachel asked.

"No," I answered. "It was the Winchesters. They brought down the Apocalypse."

"But you and Castiel beat the Archangels, Octavia," Rachel told me. "You're an Angel again. God brought Castiel back. He must have healed you to who you are again. He chose you, Ava. To lead us. Heaven isn't run on one superior. It's run on many superiors. You and Cas can lead us."

"No," I told her. "No one leads us anymore. We're all free to make our own choices. And to choose our own fates."

"What does God want?" Rachel asked.

"God wants you to have freedom," I answered.

"But what does He want us to do with it?" Rachel asked.

I didn't answer.

Angels never had freedom. They hadn't since the beginning. Which was why it was terrifying to choose your own course of action.

But I wasn't scared anymore.

Obviously.

*

Those first weeks back in Heaven were surprisingly difficult. Explaining freedom to Angels was a bit like teaching poetry to fish.

And then there was Raphael.

I walked through a house in a man's Heaven, walking toward Raphael and Castiel.

"You came," Raphael told me. "I appreciate the courage that takes."

"Whose Heaven is this?" I asked.

"Ken Lay's," Raphael answered. "I'm borrowing it."

"I still question his admittance here," I told him.

"He's devout," Raphael told us. "Trumps everything."

"What do you want?" Castiel asked.

"Tomorrow, I've called for a full assembly of the Holy Host," Raphael told us. "You'll kneel before e and pledge allegiance to the flag, all right?"

"And what flag is that?" Castiel asked.

"Me, Castiel," Raphael answered. "Allegiance to me."

"Are you joking?" I asked.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Raphael asked.

I shook my head. "You never look like you're joking."

"You rebelled," Raphael told us. "Against God, Heaven, and me. Now you will atone. We'll start by freeing Lucifer and Michael from their cage. And then we'll get our show back on the road."

"Raphael..." I trailed off. "No. The Apocalypse doesn't have to be fought."

"Of course it does," Raphael told us. "It's God's will."

"How can you say that?" I asked incredulously.

"Because it's what I want," Raphael answered.

"Well, the other Angels won't let you," I told him.

"Are you sure?" Raphael asked. "You know better than anyone, Octavia. They're soldiers. They weren't built for freedom. They were built to follow."

Castiel and I exchanged a look, knowing our answer.

Castiel looked at Raphael. "Then we won't let you."

"Really?" Raphael asked. "You?"

Raphael used power to push us out of Ken Lee's Heaven into the one next over.

Castiel and I were bleeding and wounded, looking up.

Raphael stood in front of us. "Tomorrow, you kneel. Or you and anyone with you die."

*

Castiel and I stood in the Garden of Heaven, speaking alone.

"You want to what?" I asked.

"You've said it yourself, Ava," Castiel told me. "You don't want Raphael to get what he wants. You don't want all of what we've worked for to mean nothing by letting Lucifer and Michael out of the cage and destroying each other and half the planet along with them."

"You're right," I told him. "I don't. But what you're talking about is... civil war. I want to stop Raphael. I do, Cas. But what you're saying will get many more killed."

"But not all, like what Raphael is trying to accomplish," Castiel told me. "Please, Octavia. I can't do this without you. We can save them, Ava. God chose us to save them. And I think... deep down... you know that."

*

Castiel and I had returned to Raphael.

Castiel used magic to remove Raphael from the room, looking at the other Angels. "There will be no Apocalypse. And let it be known. You're either with Raphael, or you're with me."

I looked at Castiel in confusion, sensing a change in him that I would yet have a long time to sense, but not knowing what to do about it.

What could I even do about it?