REVIVE ▸ d. winchester [2] ✔

Chapter 33

Jackie looks down upon the dying angel. The bright, blue light radiating from where her hand still held the angel blade was blinding, and as she watched it shine, she practically felt the loss of Azrael's power in her.

His eyes bore into hers. As his finally shut, unable to hold them open any longer, his body fell. From his knees, Azrael fell on his side without even his own hands catching his fall. The most powerful being had become the weakest, vulnerable soul in only seconds, all at the hand of one woman. Inside, through his internal rage, Azrael knew that Jackie was everything he thought she was, and more. He greatly underestimated her.

She played him, and it would be the last thing he remembers.

Azrael stills on the floor, the light of his grace dying out after a few long moments. The room is quiet, and Jackie can't help but notice that her mind, too, is silent. For the first time in months, her mind was hers, unconditionally. She felt different, something that she liked to believe was herself. She was herself again. She felt human.

With the sudden isolation comes the overwhelming realization of what she had just done. She looks down, finding blood sticking to her hands. At the sight of crimson, she pulls back with a gasp.

Wiping away the few tears that had escaped her eyes with the back of her wrist, Jackie takes a deep breath.

Think, she tells herself. Calm down, and think.

Her silence is interrupted by a door opening. Standing tall and turning quickly, she finds another man entering the room- an angel. The angel stops before he can get out a single word, pausing in his tracks as his eyes take in the sight in front of him. He sees the blood, the angel blade, and the angel that so powerfully ruled heaven on the floor, unmoving. It doesn't take more than a second for the angel to come to a conclusion as to what had happened.

"Come in, and close the door," Jackie says firmly, her voice unwavering.

The angel has no choice but to comply. Next to Azrael, Jackie had become a strong, dangerous figure that even the other angels feared. The angel wouldn't have to be threatened to obey Jackie, but the sight of a dead Azrael on the floor certainly spurred his actions.

With the door shut and silence overwhelming the room again, Jackie makes her move. Kneeling down, she pulls the angel blade from Azrael's body. She does her best to ignore the immense strength required to pull the blade out, and quickly wipes the blood from the metal off onto Azrael's jacket. With her actions, the angel at the door freezes. Confused as to what Jackie was about to do, he didn't want to make a move.

But the girl surprises him as she stands and faces him, blade in her hand. "You're going to get me out of here."

Jackie's mind was racing to find the best plan of action. She had no where to go and no one to trust but herself. But she knew that she needed to leave heaven, and the angel in front of her could help her do so.

Jackie leaves Azrael's body, picking up the bow she had dropped and draping it across her shoulders and chest. She walks to where a stash of arrows sits on the counter, the same place from which she had taken the angel blade. She picks up several arrows, throws them into a quiver, and swings it over her shoulder and onto her back. Looking to the angel, she finds him still standing frozen in fear by the door.

"You can get me to the ground?"

The angel doesn't understand at first, confused as to what she was asking. But when she prods further, saying, "Earth, you can take me to Earth?" he quickly nods his head.

"Yes."

This is all she needs, and taking the few steps to stand next to the angel, she looks into his eyes. "Take me there."

The angel hesitates only for a moment. But in this moment, Jackie looks back to the archangel laying on the floor. And from the distance, she can see the outline of his wings on the floor, dark and menacing. With this, she knows for sure what she only hoped before.

Azrael is dead.

Moments later, a surge of power flows through her body and her surroundings blur into a mirage of bright light. Leaving the room- a room she hopes to never see again- behind, she sighs.

She was free.

Her feet land heavily on the ground. The soles of her boots shuffle against a mix of dirt and gravel, and looking around, she finds that her and the angel are practically in the middle of no where. With miles and miles of farm fields surrounding her, a light layer of snow covering the dirt, it was clear that no one would have seen her apparate out of thin air.

"Where are we," Jackie asks, turning to the angel who still stood in a startled and intimidated manner at her side.

"Iowa. Marshalltown, Iowa."

With a nod, Jackie takes another look around. In the distance, about a quarter mile down the road, she can make out a green sign that points in the direction of a town. With the wind already nipping at her through her light jacket and jeans, she knew where she was going to head.

"Go," she says, keeping her eyes on the sign. When the angel doesn't respond, she turns to face him. His eyes meet hers, and in his she finds growing surprise.

He had expected her to kill him. He thought she would drive the same angel blade with which she had killed Azrael through his own body, and he would be left to feel the grace drain from his body. But she doesn't. Her mercy leaves him just as quiet as he had been this entire time.

"Go," Jackie prompts again. She knows why the wave of confusion crosses her face, and why he still stands in silence. She knew she should kill him, as it would be the smartest move. After all, this angel knew what she had done. And who knows who would be coming after her. She should tie off all loose ends, and this angel was as loose as they came.

But she couldn't. She was done killing, and if she had it her way, she would never pick up another weapon in her life. Not after what all Azrael had made her do.

She knew that was an impossibility, but in this moment, she could spare a life. She could spare this angels life, and that was what she was going to do.

A long moment passes where the girl and the angel exchange an understanding look, the wind whipping around them and whistling in their ears. Then, just as quickly as they had arrived, the angel disappears, leaving Jackie standing alone in the middle of the road with only a pair of footprints in the snow to keep her company.

Jackie closes her eyes, taking a deep breath in and clenching her hands. Her fingers tighten around her bow and the angel blade, the metal already becoming cold in the winter weather. The seconds pass before she shifts her boots in the dirt, opening her eyes and locking them onto the green sign in the distance.

Back on Earth and alone, she had no idea of what to do next. Next to getting inside and out of the harsh weather, she had no where to go, and no one to turn to. She couldn't trust anyone, even with the memories of the Winchesters and man named Bobby, and even another angel, slowly coming back to her.

She would stick to her own judgement, and until she got a grip on her own mind, she wouldn't turn to anyone.

Taking her first steps down the road and towards the nearest town, Jackie's feeling of liberation grows. Here, out in the middle of farmland with no one in sight, she felt free for the first time in months.