Grace And Soul [SPN FanFic] | Winchester Legacy I

One

"That's the address," the taxi driver said. "Are you sure that's where you're headed to?"
"I guess so," the girl replied. "Thank you for the ride," she added, pulling a few creased dollar bills out of her wallet. She grabbed the strap of her backpack and left the taxi. For a moment she watched after the car until it disappeared behind the next turn of the road.
This was clearly not how she imagined it to be. She expected anything from a crappy two-room-apartment to a huge mansion, anything besides this. She couldn't place the vibe the building gave off. Old, run-down, but huge. Maybe like a factory, or a secret supervillain lair. A reach, but in this day and age, you can never know what kind of maniac got his hands on too much money.
Not that she would think her father was a maniac. When she read the letter he had sent her a few years back, she didn't feel like she was reading the words of a maniac. On the other hand, the letter never said her father was there in the first place. Back then, when she was around eleven or twelve, she barely knew what she was supposed to do with the letter. It didn't make sense why he wouldn't just pick her up from her home. Now, the letter still confused her.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt the urge to run away. Maybe she wasn't ready to meet him yet. Maybe he wasn't like she always imagined him to be.
With a deep and shaky breath, she took the stairs down to the metal door. Not the most inviting exterior, she had to admit. She knocked against the door, and a few moments later a tall man in a blue plaid shirt opened the door. Not her father. She would have known because the man that opened the door was definitely human. An off-putting human for some reason, but definitely human.
"Can I help you?" the man asked.
The girl nodded. "Uhm, yes," she said. Her hand reached into the pocket off her worn-off jeans and pulled out the letter from her father. "I am looking for my dad. His name is Gabriel."
The man eyed her. "Gabriel?" he repeated. "Gabriel, as in-"
"The archangel."
The man remained silent for a second. "He isn't here, but what makes you think he would be here?"
"He wrote me a letter. A long time ago, though." Her gaze wandered down to the floor. "I guess it wasn't that smart to assume he'd still be here, I suppose. I'm sorry for the disturbance."
"Wait, wait," the man exclaimed. "You're not at the wrong address. I knew him. We were friends." His expression shifted for a second. "There's a lot to talk about, I guess. Why don't you come in?"
The girl nodded. He stepped aside so she could enter.
The inside of the building looked like a military bunker, with a staircase leading down to a hall with a large table in the middle. Sitting at the table was an angel and another person, barely touched Asian food on the table.
"Did I interrupt your lunch?" the girl asked as they went down the stairs.
"Don't worry about it," the man said, gesturing towards one of the chairs. "Have a seat."
Hesitantly, she pulled back the chair and sat down next to the other person. It was a young man, probably a little older than she was herself.
"So," the man began after sitting down himself. "first of all, I'm Sam." He smiled. "And these are Castiel and Jack."
The girl folded her hands and put them in front of her. "Serah," she said after a moment of silence. "My name is Serah."
Sam smiled before he shoved his lunch towards the middle of the table. "I've got some things to tell you, and I don't think you'll like them a lot."
Serah watched him, concern and curiosity build up in her. "Things about my father?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry to tell you, but Gabriel isn't with us anymore. He died a couple months ago."
Silence filled the room. Serah wasn't sure if she should say anything. Everything that crossed her mind felt inappropriate to say. She wasn't overly sad, after all, she barely knew him.
"That's... awful," she finally said.
Sam simply nodded. "I'm really sorry."
"I've had time to adjust," Serah reassured. "I just thought... After 17 years it'd be a good time to finally meet him, but I think I've missed my chance."
"Don't say that," Castiel, the angel, said. "Never lose hope."
Sam chuckled lightly. "Wouldn't be the first time he faked his death. Who knows how many emergency plans he has."
Serah watched the round. "So you think he might still be alive?"
"He might be," Sam said. "Finding him wasn't our number one priority at the moment, but he could be a great help. And if it helps you, also, it'd be worth a shot."
"Oh no," Serah exclaimed. "If you have priorities, I won't bother you anymore. I still have one more parent to look for, so you do your thing and I do mine."
Castiel glanced over to the others. "You have two parents?"
Serah paused. "Yeah," she said slowly. "Because apparently Gabriel isn't my dad but my mom, except that he now is my dad, so I have two fathers. Trust me, I don't follow either, but that's what the letter said."
"Letter?" Sam asked. "What letter?"
Hesitantly, Serah handed over the old crumpled piece of paper. Sam skimmed the lines, raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat.
"Dear Serah," he read. "It's me, your mommy, except that now I am your daddy. I miss you so much, and I wanna see you again. If you can, please go to this address. I and your dad will wait for you there."
"He didn't add a date or time, so I just assumed he'd live here," Serah said.
"When did you get this?" Sam asked.
"Like five or six years ago?"
Sam pondered and placed the letter on the table. "That was around the time when we settled down here. So Gabriel knew we would be there."
"I don't know anything," Serah admitted. "Only that my 'mom' is Gabriel and my dad is somewhere out there."
Sam cleared his throat. "And there is nothing you could say? Where did you stay all the time if it wasn't with him?"
Reaching out for the letter, Serah took a moment to think. "I grew up with an ex-friend of mine and her parents. Her name is Amie. She used to be like a sister to me until she became a bitch. After that I was couch-surfing."
"That's a start," Sam smiled. "Of course you can stay here until you got something on your own, but no hurries. Maybe her parents knew Gabriel and your dad. What's her full name?"
"Ellerbee." Serah ran her fingers through her hair, resting her hand at the back of her head.
"If you know the address, we can go to them and maybe find out what we need." Sam smiled encouragingly.
Serah nodded. The Ellerbees were the last people she wanted to see if she was honest but Sam had a point. "So," Serah said, hoping she could simply change the subject. "You said you had something important going on. Can I ask about that?"
Sam watched Castiel and Jack. "Maybe that's for another time."
Serah nodded understandingly. "Personal?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."
Serah felt like the atmosphere had just adopted this weird feeling of "We're not supposed to talk about it", whatever "it" was. "I've had a long day. Could I maybe get some sleep?"
"Sure, of course," Sam said, watching Jack. "Can you show her an empty room?"
Jack smiled. "I'll do that." He got up from the chair and waited for Serah to do the same. Together they walked down the hallway.
"So, you're a Nephilim too?" Jack asked.
"Yeah." Serah chuckled. "I suppose I grew up pretty human, though. And you?"
Jack nodded. "I'm a Nephilim too."
"Is Castiel your father?" Serah asked.
"One of them, but not my actual father. He, Sam and Dean are father-figures to me."
Serah hesitated. "Who is Dean?"
"He's what Sam didn't want to talk about. He's Sam's brother and Cas' best friend."
Jack stopped in front of a room.
"But he isn't around at the moment." Serah opened the door to reveal a standard room. A bed, a closet, a nightstand. The bare essentials.
"It's a long story, but Dean is possessed by Michael."
Serah watched the young man. "Possessed? And you're trying to get him back?"
"Basically, yeah." Jack looked into the room. "Anyway, that's your room. It still looks a bit bland."
Serah smiled faintly. "Thanks for the bed. Haven't had one in over a year." She dropped her backpack at the foot of the bed and stripped off her shoes. "I'll let you know when I'm up again."
Jack nodded. "Good night," he said as he closed the door.
Serah sighed. She took off her clothing until she was only wearing her underwear and an oversized shirt she had stolen from one of her friends. Then she knelt beside the bed and folded her hands.
Dearest Gabriel. Hey, it's me, your daughter. Today I went to finally meet you, but I was too late. I met a friend of yours, Sam. He told me you passed away, but he also said that maybe you weren't dead. If you can hear me, please don't leave me like this. Sam also looked very upset about your death. He must have been a close friend of yours. Either way, I love you dad. Sincerely, your daughter, Serah.