Alabama and Andy were staring at Jack with twin looks of amazed disbelief when Rayan walked back into the garage. Neither of them seemed particularly thrilled that the newest addition to their ragtag group had dropped in for the big show, and it didn't take long for Alabama to voice her opinion.

"Did you invite your boyfriend to this party? Seriously?" she asked, sending an accusatory glare Rayan's way. "This isn't some 'Daddy's out of the house, so let's sneak in boys' party. This is serious shit."

"Don't you think I know that?" Rayan shot back, rolling her eyes as she brushed past Jack's shoulder. "I tried to get him to go home. But the stubborn ass thinks he's got to protect me or something."

Rayan didn't mean to sound harsh, or ungrateful. Truth be told, what Jack had said outside made Rayan's skin shiver with the good kind of goose bumps. The kind that only showed up when a boy was involved, and said boy was willing to walk into a room and literally face death just to make sure you were safe. She was getting the goose bumps all over again just thinking about it.

But Jack's feelings weren't of priority at the moment, despite how much Rayan wanted to simply drag the boy to the VW Bug in the junkyard and make out with him until they were both breathless. What was a priority was getting this summoning spell done and over with before her dad made his way back home and killed them all, just to save Death a trip.

"Well, I think Jack's intentions are very noble," Andy said with a nod of his head. "Stupid, but noble. Who are we to talk, though? We're all pretty fucking stupid, if you ask me. Summoning Death like we actually know what we're doing."

"We're going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine," Rayan said, hoping the slight shake in her voice didn't sound as obvious as it felt. "Remind me again what we have to do to get this show on the road."

Andy glanced down at his notes a final time and then brings the large bowl filled with the crushed up remains of the last year's hard work closer to him. "I guess we just have to...say the Latin. Does that seem too easy to anyone else? Where's the blood? Where's the animal sacrifice? Should we be biting heads off bats?"

"You're disgusting," Alabama sneers, forcing her way into the circle and snatching the paper with the required text from the floor next to Andy's knee. "This isn't a Black Sabbath concert and Death isn't some demon. He's just…Death. Do we need to throw a match into the bowl? Anything?"

"Nope, just say the words," Andy replied.

Several seconds of silence followed, each teen sending glances at one another before quickly looking away, any way, to avoid eye contact. Everyone was nervous, no different than Rayan was earlier in her room. But it also wasn't fair to try and pin the actual summoning on Alabama or Andy. It was her problem, her idea, and her job to man up and read the stupid Latin.

She could do this.

"Give me the paper," Rayan said, holding her hand out to Alabama expectantly. Alabama wasted no time thrusting the scrap into Rayan's hand, giving her an apologetic shrug as if to say "Glad you signed up for this and not me." She tried to calm her breathing, calm the rapid beat of her heart inside her chest that made her whole ribcage shake in an uncomfortable way. She just has to get out one sentence, ten simple words, and it would all be over. Rayan just needed to open her mouth and spit it out.

But she couldn't do it. Suddenly, it felt like this whole venture was a huge mistake. Because what if her dad was right? What if summoning Death really meant serious trouble. What if she got herself hurt, or her friends for that matter? What about Jack? Could she really risk it? An entire year's worth of lying to her family, sneaking around behind everyone's back for her own selfish gain suddenly came crashing down on her shoulders and Rayan could feel her knees beginning to buckle.

Suddenly, a warm, calloused hand slid into her own, gently squeezing her fingers and bringing Rayan back to reality. She glanced over and was meet with the blue eyes of Jack, concentrated and worried. "You don't have to do this, Rayan," he breathed, quietly and only for her.

"Yes, I do," Rayan answered, giving his fingers a return squeeze. His presence was the courage she needed, and she was so selfishly grateful that he had showed up that afternoon. "Just…don't let go?"

"Whatever you need," Jack said, smiling gently but unable to completely mask his worry. "Let's do this."

Rayan nodded and took a deep breath, turning her attention to the Latin on the scrap of paper. She began to slowly pronounce the words, careful to make sure that every syllable would come out exactly right. They were only going to get one shot at this, and Rayan didn't want to fail because of a confused vowel. As she spoke, the words felt heavy and slow on her tongue, as if she were spilling lead from her lips instead of manipulated air.

Jack's hand shook slightly in her own.

She squeezed his fingers again.

Andy and Alabama stood close to one another, tense and unsure. Alabama had one hand resting on the handle of a knife.

Somewhere just outside, Castiel could feel a slight change in the air.

When Rayan finished the sentence, the garage seemed eerily still. It was quiet, and not even the birds nesting in the high corner of the roof rustled around like normal. It was as if time had frozen, and everyone was just waiting for it to start up again. Rayan couldn't remember ever experiencing a calm like this.

And yet nothing was different. There were no flickering lights or smoke show. No exploding light bulbs or strange mists. There was simply the garage and a group of teenagers hovering around a strange symbol on the floor. Alabama was the first to dare speaking.

"Did it work?" she asked, glancing first at Rayan and then Andy. "I don't think it worked."

"Maybe we missed something," Rayan offered, tugging gently on Jack's hand until he moved with her towards Andy and his notes. "Could we have missed an item?"

Andy growled slightly, irritated by the idea of making a mistake during his research. "I swear I followed every instruction down to the very last detail. You saw how hard I worked on this translation! I had everything-"

"Don't worry, kid. You didn't make a mistake," a woman spoke from the far corner of the garage. "Or well, you did as the instructions asked, anyway. The ritual itself was the mistake."

All four teens whipped around, Andy letting out a small squeak of surprise. Jack shoved Rayan slightly behind him, and despite the turn of events, Rayan shoved at his back in annoyance. She wasn't a damsel in distress, damn it.

The woman was perched on top of the workbench, booted feet tapping along to a rhythm only she could hear. Her dark brown hair was cut into a shoulder length bob, making her cheekbones appear sharper and more angled. She looked dangerous, Rayan realized, despite her warm brown eyes and small frame. Like she could convince you to see her side of an argument with her smile or her fist, your choice.

"Who are you?" Rayan asked, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. Her father was right. Summoning Death was a bad idea, because they'd managed to summon someone else instead. "What are you doing here?"

The woman sighed and hopped off the bench. She straightened her leather jacket and brushed a few flecks of dry, flaking grease off of her jeans before focusing her attention on Rayan solely, ignoring Jack, Andy, and Alabama as if they were nothing more than flies on the wall. "I've been sent here to collect you, Rayan."

Before Rayan even has a chance to process what the woman has said, Alabama of all people has thrown herself between Rayan and the mysterious visitor, brandishing a knife and snarling like an angry dog.

"Like hell you're taking Rayan," Alabama said as she waved the knife in front of her for good measure. "Cas! Cas, get in here!"

In an instant, the air was shifting and Cas had materialized by Alabama's side, focused and brandishing his silver angel blade in his right hand. But mere seconds after appearing, Cas lowered the weapon and cocked his head to the side, looking at the woman standing before him in confusion.

"Tessa?"

"Hello, Castiel," the woman…Tessa….answered, a small smile gracing her features. "It's been a long time."

"It has," Cas replied, stoic as ever. "What are you doing here?"

Tessa sighed again, impatience starting to cloud her features. Rayan wanted to roll her eyes, because seriously? She's the one who dropped in unannounced and all.

"As I was just explaining to Rayan, I've been sent here to collect her. She's needed elsewhere, and because she has performed the ritual, Death believes she's ready to learn the truth."

Rayan's ears perk up at the mention of Death, and she's slightly relieved to hear that they didn't completely fail at the summoning ritual, all things considered. Andy is, apparently, just as pleased if the muttered "I knew it" she hears come from him is anything to go by.

Cas took another step forward, beginning to raise the angel blade just slightly. "I cannot allow you to do that, Tessa. Dean has entrusted me with keeping Rayan and the others safe."

"Dean Winchester is of no concern when it comes to these matters," Tessa said, eyes hardening. "But either way, Rayan will be returned home, unharmed and filled with the knowledge of her destiny. That's what you want, right?

This time, Tessa's eyes are focused on Rayan, piercing and unyielding. Rayan's heart beats harder in her chest. She doesn't know what's going on, or how this crazy idea of hers got turned so upside down, but she's determined to find out.

"The only answers I want right now," Rayan said, stepping forward and around Alabama and Castiel, "are who you are, and why you're here instead of Death. After that, we'll talk."

Tessa chuckled quietly and crossed her arms, assessing Rayan quietly before speaking again. "You seem to have more Winchester in you than we all thought," she mused before striding over to a nearby stack of tires and leaning against them. "You want answers, fine. I'll bite. I'm a reaper, same as Lucas, only I'm much higher up on the food chain. And a lot less annoying."

"That's debatable," Alabama muttered, cutting a sideways look at Tessa. The comment goes ignored.

"That ritual you used is a sort of decoy summoning spell. An alarm system, if you will. It tells Death when someone wants him, but you need the heavy-duty stuff to actually make him show up. Not that you would have know. I'm sure Dean didn't share all of his dirty little hunter secrets with you."

Behind Rayan, Andy exploded into a flurry of movement, rushing up to his friend's side and seemingly forgetting about the situation at hand.

"You mean to tell me that we spent a year sneaking around for nothing," he demands, throwing his arms in the air like a mad man. "Do you know how many sleepless nights I've had. Do you know how many cell phone minutes I've used up calling dealers all over the world. Do you know how many embarrassing conversations I've had to endure with Dean Winchester about where and where not to hide porn?!"

Stunned, and a little bit amused, Rayan gently grasps Andy's shoulder and pulls him back and away from Tessa, who appears equally startled by his outburst. As soon as Andy realizes what kind of outburst he just shared with the class, his face turns beat red and he wheels around, marching straight to the back of the pack and stepping slightly behind Jack, out of sight.

Rayan decides she loves Andy just a little more now than she did that morning.

"I suppose I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused," Tessa concedes, although it's obvious she doesn't mean it. "Had there been an easier way to contact you, we would have followed that route for obvious reasons. But Death wanted to make sure that you were fully prepared to hear what he has to say, and in order to be sure, he decided that you would need to seek him out. Now that you have, I've been directed to take you to him. He would have come here in person, but there are some pressing matters he's taking care of at the moment."

"He knows why I'm seeing all these things?" Rayan asks, taking another step towards Tessa. "He can tell me what's wrong with me?"

Tessa smiles kindly. "There's nothing wrong with you, Rayan, but yes. Death can, and will answer any and all questions you have. He's waiting for you in Chicago as we speak. You just simply have to come with me."

Rayan looks from Tessa, to her uncle and finally her friends. Their faces read confusion, mistrust and apprehension, but Castiel's face is calm, accepting. "Uncle Cas?" she calls, turning to face him. "What do you think?"

"Tessa would not betray you," he answers after a moment's pause. "She will do as she says. But I would suggest talking things over with your father first. Dean will be angry. With all of us. But he will understand, eventually. He'll want to be there for you."

"No, no, no," Tessa interrupts, shaking her head. "I don't have that kind of time. I still have a job to do Castiel. I need an answer."

Castiel looks like he's about to argue, but Rayan beats him to the punch. "I can't go with you, Tessa. At least not right now." Tessa's face scrunches up with annoyance, but Rayan pushes on. "Uncle Cas is right. I need to talk to my dad about all of this before I make any decisions. But I promise to have Lucas send out a signal when I'm ready. And I will be ready. I need to know what's going on, once and for all."

"Winchesters," Tessa growls, throwing her hands up in defeat. "You always make things so difficult. Fine. You win. Maybe Death was wrong about you being ready for the truth."

And just like that, Tessa's gone. The garage suddenly seems like just the garage, and everyone lets out a collective breath. So the summoning was a bit…anticlimactic. And not at all what Rayan was hoping for, but she'll deal. And Jack, from the look on his face, is obviously pleased that Rayan decided to stay. Alabama and Andy on the other hand, are angrily throwing handfuls of the crushed items out of the bowl and stomping it into the cracked concrete floor.

"I can't believe you didn't go," Alabama howls as she grabs another fistful of powder. "That was your chance, you moron and you blew it. Your dad's never going to let you talk to Death. Ever! And we're all going to be grounded for the rest of our natural born lives for nothing! Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Each curse is accompanied by a boot stomp, and Rayan wants to call her out for her childish behavior, but a part of her can't blame Alabama. She'd be pissed too. But Alabama hasn't figured out Rayan's plan yet, and she won't be cursing for long.

"Uncle Cas, can you do me a favor? We need to get this floor cleaned up before Dad gets home. There's some of that toxic-smelling cleaner Gramps likes to use under the sink in the upstairs bathroom. Grab it for me?"

Cas nods his agreement and exits the garage via the door like a normal person for once, which is perfect. Human speed means human timeframe. And that means Rayan's got just enough time to talk.

"What a disaster," Andy moans, flopping himself onto a stool and putting his head in his hands. "Did anything go right? At all?"

"Well, no one wound up dead, so you can count that as a win," Jack says, lifting his shoulders in a slight shrug. "Right, Rayan?"

"Listen, all of you," Rayan demands. "Sure, this didn't go exactly as we planned. And yes, it seems like all of the time we spent on this stupid spell was a waste. But it wasn't for nothing."

"How was this not for nothing?" Alabama asks as she finally drops the bowl and makes her way over to the rest of the group. "The only thing I'm seeing around here is nothing. No Death. No answer about your creepy vision. Not even a reimbursement check."

Rayan rolls her eyes and continues. "What we learned, assholes, is where we can find Death."

"And just what do you think we're going to do with that?" Andy asks, head still cradled in his hands. The sarcasm rolls off of him in waves. "Are we just going to take off for Chicago, and damn the consequences?

"Exactly."

What's it been, guys? Three years? HA!

I know many of you probably thought I gave up on this story. Hell, I know I did. But I honestly never forgot where I want this story to end up, or my basic idea of how I'm going to get there. And lately, it just seemed totally appropriate and necessary for me to try and wrap up Rayan's story. So here I am.

You'll notice that my style has changed a bit, as styles tend to do after such a long period of time. And you'll have to forgive me if some inconsistencies pop up between early chapters and these newer ones. I'm going to try my best, but I'm sure I'll slip and make a mistake here or there.

And if it turns out that things actually start to suck, please let me know. I don't need to embarrass myself. :)

Fallen