Chapter One: An Unforeseen Meeting

Blinding white light. Pain. Oh…Pain. Agony. That had become the sole essence of meaning in his entire universe in the final moments of his life. Moments that felt like an eternity. Then it faded away and there was sweet release. Nothingness. Blessed peace. Something he had not had in what felt like forever. His life of failure had been turned around. He hoped that that one act. A single act that changed everything, was enough to redeem him from what he had lived with since his failure. His seduction by Metatron and the ensuing acts of villainy he had committed in the service of Metatron's mission.

Gadreel was finally at peace.

Then there was a jarring sensation, like hitting the bottom of a jump when tethered to a bungee cord, not that he would know that. He was yanked back into a cohesive whole, vessel stitched back together from the atoms it had been blasted into. With an implosion Gadreel was brought back to earth, in the middle of a vast forest, no idea where he was with no connection to heaven, and no cognizance of what was going on around him. As he stood up from the crater he had formed, all the trees around, leaning in toward where he had appeared. Without a stitch of clothing on, Gadreel was completely lost. He picked a direction and staggered off into the woods. Headed where? He knew not, he just knew he had to move and find out what had happened. How he was still alive at all.

Jo drove the old pickup truck that she had been driving for the past few years. It was an old 70s Ford that had crap mileage. The one good thing was that it was pretty much solid iron with an iron tool box that worked as a great armory and strong box against all sorts of supernatural creepy crawlies. It was late at night and Jo had just finish taking care of a group of demons…by herself of course. After her mom died…well, she had fallen away from Sam and Dean. Keeping contact with Bobby though. He'd taken care of her, sent her on cases, and supplied her with this truck. Then the Leviathans happened. Now. Now she was on her own. She only kept sporadic contact with the Winchester brothers, wanting to stay out of their way for the most part now. Jo's hair was a tangled mess and her long sleeved green flannel shirt and ripped jeans had some splattering of blood on them. A case was done, but leaving behind four bodies tended to attract attention, so she had gotten out of there, not even taking the time to change or grab a shower.

She was kind of sleepy and barely keeping herself awake…when a giant naked man came out of the South Dakota forest onto the country road right in front of her. She slammed on the breaks, screeching to a stop, but not fast enough, as the dramatically slowed vehicle hit him and he fell back sprawled on the black asphalt.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," she said in an undertone. She threw the truck into park and jumped out of the cab, snatching the blanket out of the back that she used when she was forced to sleep in her truck. "Hey. You okay?" she called as she rounded the front and went over to his prone form. She couldn't help but notice the highly toned physique of the man. She went over to him and knelt down on one knee next to him. "Hey buddy," she said again.

Suddenly the man shot up into a sitting position. He had bloody marks on his back, where he had hit the street, and a bruise already forming on his ribs. In sitting up, the man looked right into the headlights and blinked away the bright spots they obviously would make him see. Jo had jumped to her feet and back a step, hand already moving to the angel blade at her hip. "Uh…dude, you good?" she asked again.

"Where am I?" the man asked. His voice sounded strange. As if English was foreign in his mouth, though he spoke perfectly fine, it was as if English were too mundane and crude to get across what he meant. Jo found it more endearing than that English accent the guy at the diner last week had had.

"Middle of nowhere South Dakota," Jo informed him. "You sure you're alright?" she asked

"I must find Castiel," the man stated.

Jo's eyes widened at the name. "You…know Cas?" she asked hesitantly.

The man got to his feet in a swift movement. "He is my brother," he stated.

"Wait," Jo said in awe. "Are…are you an angel?"

The man considered for a moment. "I was, but I am no longer. He will know why," he stated with more conviction than he obviously felt.

Jo blinked for a moment. That was…different. "Well. I guess I could help you," she said to him. "Great. Roadtrip with a crazy angel," she muttered to herself.

"That would be most kind of you," the man said. "I am Gadreel," he introduced himself.

"Oh…uh. Jo," she said in return. "Get in the truck," she offered. "Oh," she said, remembering, and blushing all the more for it. "You might want this," she said, tossing him the blanket. "To…uh…cover up."

"Indeed," Gadreel confirmed, grabbing the blanket out of the air. He wrapped it around his waist and tied it off before moving to climb in the passenger side of the cab.

Jo put her hands on her hips and breathed out an explosive breath, her blue eyes looking up at the star filled sky. "Well. This should be interesting," she muttered.