Desolation Comes Upon the Sky

As Time Goes By

January 15th, 2013

El Paso, Illinois

She was alone. The street was dark, lit only by the occasional streetlight, and snowflakes fell through the cold winter air, covering the ground. The young girl pulled her thin jacket tighter around her, suppressing a shiver. She hated life, and she hated living like she did. They had fought again, and now she had been thrown out of the house for the night as punishment. She kicked at a loose stone, sending it clattering down the street. Stupid foster family. Like they gave a damn about her.

Suddenly there was light. A bright, blinding light that was gone as soon as it had appeared. Darkness surrounded the young girl as the ground disappeared beneath her feet, and the next thing she knew she was falling.

Alex's eyes snapped open as her body jerked, and her wings flared out in surprise. The angel jumped to her feet, eyes wide as her heart pounded within her chest as her mind replayed the last seconds over and over again. That feeling of falling, of plummeting to her death and not being able to fly.

Alex dropped back onto the bed, the butt of her hands digging into her forehead. It was just a dream, she reminded her racing heart. Just a memory. She was here with the Winchesters in El Paso, Illinois. It had been a week since she had heard from Castiel, and a week since the three of them had last found a case to work.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, and Alex jumped in surprise, head snapping to the side to see Sam Winchester's look of concern. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah. I just ... had a dream." Alex brushed his hand away and rose to her feet, squinting as she crossed the room to her backpack that lay illuminated in the moonlight. "I mean, it wasn't exactly a dream, more of a ... a memory." She pulled out her worn, leather journal and flipped it open to the very first page, fingers tracing the spine as the read the very first date that was scrawled across the top of the page.

December 15th, 2013.

The journal slipped from her hands, and Alex stared blankly down at the ground. How had she forgotten? That was last month. Exactly one month ago.

"Alex. Is everything okay?" The floorboards creaked as Sam got up, and Alex looked up at her friend. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Alex picked up her journal as the Winchester crouched down beside her. "It's just ... the day that I fell onto the Impala. It was December 15th, 2013. Just last month." Alex slid off of her knees to sit fully on the ground. "I didn't even think of it until now." She let her journal drop back down to the ground, and she shrugged. "It's really nothing, I just didn't think this day would come." Alex let out a small grin, eyes turning onto Sam. "Just think that in four days I'd be turning eighteen. And yet somehow I'm almost twenty four."

Sam's hand firmly clapped her on the shoulder, and Alex's wings flicked at the touch. "Yeah, that's weird," he agreed. "Um, I'm going to go back to bed, okay?"

"Yeah." Alex shifted so she was leaning up against the wall as the Winchester stood up. "That's fine. I'll see you in the morning."

...

Alex leaned back against the wall as she watched the two Winchesters move around the room. Dean was sitting just below her to her left, tying his left boot in preparation for their departure to lunch, and Sam was tidying in the mirror, just out of her sight, but Alex could hear the water running as he dried his hands. The morning had passed quickly as the two Winchesters searched for work. The young angel shifted on her crossed legs, eyes flitting over her old journal; she had been flipping through it all day. Currently, she was sitting up on one of the wooden dressers, doing her best to enjoy the height. "I'm thinking maybe pizza," she suggested from her perch. "I'm feeling pepperoni and sausage. With extra cheese."