Ninth Temptation ♆ [Action/Dictated; OTA; Backdated to Feb 1st]

[putuporshutup]

[ Meg sits up suddenly, gasping for breath - only to double over in pain again, crying out, clutching at the rapidly bleeding stab wound in her lower abdomen. That stings like hell, don't get her wrong, but the onslaught of memories is worse. This again? Seriously? Torture. Pain. Sacrifice. Feelings??? WHY?!

And hold up just one damn minute.

...Death?! That was so not what she signed up for when she jumped on the 'team free will' bandwagon again. Sorry, but there had to be some mistake. The universe must have her mixed up with some other demon with a death wish? Why had she--

Oh. Right.

Crowley.

How, again, though?

Oh. Right. The gaping stab wound that was seeping crimson all over her and her -- wait, hospital bed? Fat chance, now that she was re-living the all-too-vivid vision of his highness gutting her with an angel blade. No way she survived that, and no way was this...? Yeah, no. She already had an afterlife. Soooo this would be...?

Another barrage of memories - some happy, some violent, some devastatingly sad - hits her like a freight train, and it occurs to her again how much she feels... Paradisa. Again. It seems like it's been so long, and yet...

Seriously? This has got to be a cosmic fucking joke. She did NOT just, somehow, die twice. Not when she had so much to lose... wait, what, though? Since when did she have anything to lose?

Suddenly, it's all clear again. Too clear. The kind of clarity that only comes from a level of rage that she hasn't felt since... Florence? No... more recently than that...

Silva. Tex.

The lights in the infirmary flicker, the bulb in a nearby lamp shattering and sending sparks flying in different directions along with broken glass. Well, that's new. Meg cradles her head in her hands - it's all too much. Speaking of cosmic jokes. And then...

Oh. Oh.

She scrambles for her journal, and sure enough, it's resting within arms reach on a side table. The demon winces in pain as she hastily grabs it and hoists herself out of bed, clutching the gaping wound and dripping blood as she makes a pathetic, limping attempt for the door. With her free hand, she flips open the journal, stifles a groan, and doesn't even think about privacy before calling out for the only help she wants. ]

Cas! Please tell me you're still here...

[ Her voice is a desperate plea; her tone terrified - and yet she can't quite bring herself to feel humiliated by that at the moment. If she's stuck here without him...

No. The universe couldn't possibly be that cruel...
On second thought, she's not gonna hold her breath.

Meg stumbles towards the door of the infirmary, realizing too late, as she falls to the floor, that it was a mistake to try to get out of bed. As she falls, she vaguely recognizes the bandages on her wrists as she throws out her arms to catch herself, and a flood of emotion washes over her. Tears well up in her eyes as she recalls a memory that she hadn't shared with Cas before. A brief reunion. One he had described to her... it had sounded so sweet at the time...

He was there. Had he known? Had he kept this from her? How could he have...
And where had he been when she needed him?

The sob that escapes her is interrupted by an indignant huff as she tries to push herself up and a chunk of matted, bloody, blonde hair falls in her face, and that's it for her. She slumps down, lying dejectedly on the cold floor, tears mingling with blood and streaming down her face.

Fucking perfect. ]

Comments

[ofthursday]

[Castiel has been having a difficult time since Meg's death.

He failed her, just as he fails everyone, and the crushing guilt he so carefully tries to ignore was just brought to the forefront. He knows it's likely she'll return, but it's possible she won't, and what is he supposed to do in the meantime? He can't do anything to help her; nothing at all.

So instead, he simply decided to shut himself away in his room. The ability to wish up food and books made it possible not to leave at all, and other than Dean no one would even miss him. There had been no reason at all why he couldn't spend the last few weeks in solitude, though he had snuck into the infirmary a few times in the middle of the night to see Meg. It wasn't her, really, just a body, but it felt wrong not to visit her.

Still, he spent most of his time in his room, though he left his journal open much of the time unless he needed complete privacy; if--when--Meg came back, he wanted to know immediately. And he does.

Upon hearing her voice, for a moment he's frozen in surprise. Then he's getting out of bed, grabbing his journal and a jacket, and running as fast as possible toward the infirmary.

The sight he finds isn't one he wants; he doesn't want to see Meg on the floor, bleeding everywhere--she's getting as bad as him about that--but she's alive, and moving, and that's a miracle on its own. It hadn't happened that way at home.

Castiel can't speak to her, but he rests a hand just for a moment on her hair to let her know he's here, before reaching to try to see how badly she's hut and what to do. Where are the doctors...?]

[putuporshutup]

[ By the time Cas gets there, Meg has at least managed to roll over onto her back, and she's staring somewhat longingly back in the direction of the hospital bed, totally lacking the will to move. Her eyes are glazed over, red-stained cheeks streaked with tears that have since evaporated.

She died.

TWICE.

Then the hand on her hair registers, and Castiel's gentle touch is unmistakable. It takes several moments for her to realize that he's actually there, that it's not just some wishful hallucination. Thank... well, whoever.

She looks up at him and smiles weakly, trying to push up on her elbows and cringing in pain. It's another confusing rush of feelings seeing him again, an entirely strange mix of her most recent memories of home combined with the months on end they had been stuck together in Paradisa. The overwhelming lingering feeling of wanting him so badly and knowing she'd never really have him conflicted with how much she had missed him on some deep, subconscious level. Perhaps that had come through a little when she spoke to Sam...

Meg winces as she brings up her hand to rest on his, pulling it down to cup her cheek, and her voice comes out in a low whisper, thick with emotion and a few fresh tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. ]

You're here.

[pompous_today]

[Simon had heard the clatter when the bulb shattered and jumped out of his seat to investigate. He saw the trail of blood leading out of the recovery area and it wasn't long before he found the source- however, he did a double-take at first, as he didn't recognize the woman.

Then he saw Castiel, and understood. Something had happened to change Meg, though Simon couldn't really explain what, nor where her injury had come from. However, that was not his concern for right now. Simon took the time to seize a large pad of gauze and put on a pair of gloves, then was at Meg's side, pressing the gauze to the wound, his voice stern.]

Back to bed with you. [He then looks up at Castiel and softens a little.] You're really in no condition to be up and about. Can you get up with my help, or do I need to bring a gurney in?

[putuporshutup]

[ Meg looks over at Simon, momentarily unamused by the interruption - Jesus, they're having a moment here - but when he softens, she does as well. He'd been there to help them both before, and she needed him even more this time around. ]

No, I'm good, I--

[ She tries to push herself up and gasps in pain, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and giving him a resigned headshake. ]

Gurney, I guess. Sorry.

[thiefoflight]

[UM.]

You okay?

[putuporshutup]

[ UM. ]

What do you think?

[thiefoflight]

[Do you really want to know?]

You sound like shit!

[putuporshutup]

[ Wow forgive her for DYING ]

You think so, huh?

Meg & Cas continued from earlier after she gets patched up

[putuporshutup]

[Don't get her wrong - Meg's glad to be somewhat cleaned up and no longer profusely bleeding everywhere, but it hasn't changed that she just wants some time alone with Cas. When he disappeared for a short while, she took the opportunity to close her eyes and rest a bit, but she'd be ready to hang out a little when he returned. She'd be fine, after all. She just felt like crap at the moment.

Despite being immortal, blood loss was taxing for the demon. In addition to that, she was still sore as hell from the beatdown Crowley had laid on her back home. She couldn't help but wonder why the Castle couldn't just do her a solid and heal her up and even fix her hair like last time, but the way she felt, it didn't seem as though Paradisa was very happy wiht her at all. ]

[ofthursday]

[Castiel gives Simon time and space to work, trusting him with Meg; he'd helped them both before, and Castiel is certain he'll do so again. When Castiel is able to return to Meg's side he's hesitant and cautious, wanting to give her space if she desires it.

He does sign a short message, though, and it's almost a joke.]

We should both attempt to spend less time here.

[They're both pretty familiar with the infirmary.]

[putuporshutup]

[ When she hears Cas return, Meg rolls over on her side and sits up, already feeling a bit stronger despite the dull ache still radiating from her stab wound.

It's still nothing compared to the screaming pain in her mind, but this isn't exactly new. It's exactly how she always feels when the castle forced her to become human. Exactly how she felt when Silva performed the cure ritual. Raw. Vulnerable. Reliving pain and fear and guilt and regret every damn second.

In short, awful. Still, she smiles fondly and chuckled at Castiel's joke. ]

We really should. Guess it's your turn to nurse me back to health, huh?

[ofthursday]

I didn't desire a turn.

[He steps a little closer, encouraged by her response and her sitting up. She looks different, though, and it takes him a moment to realize exactly why.]

Your hair-

[And he stops for a moment, putting the pieces together before continuing.]

You went to our world.

[Voice]

[schrodingersghost]

Meg?

[Danny had made a lunge for his journal the moment he recognized the voice.]

You're okay? You're alive again?

[Voice]

[putuporshutup]

[ For some reason, hearing the kid's voice kind of tugs at her heartstrings, and Meg's really glad he's checking in on her. ]

Yeah, Danny. I'm okay. Sort of.

Re: [Voice]

[schrodingersghost]

How bad of a sort of are we talking about here? You were dead!

[putuporshutup]

Well, I'm back now. I'll be fine. How about you?

Set after Meg is patched up a bit

[deductiongeek]

[Conan had been waiting for Meg to wake up. From the moment he hears her voice over the journal, he gives her a precisely calculated amount of time to adjust and get her injuries seen to. And then he slips into the room, climbs up on a chair, and waits to be noticed.]

[putuporshutup]

[ Meg was already restless, tossing and turning in the bed she was stuck in for at least the next day or so. She was feeling better - physically, anyway - by the second.

That is, until she rolled over and caught a glimpse of Conan. ]

Can I help you?

[ Her tone doesn't have its usual bite, but it's not entirely friendly, either. ]

[deductiongeek]

I found the scene, you know.

[How did you even begin to start this conversation?]

Dictated forever

[onlyanapple]

Welcome back to not being dead.

[putuporshutup]

Thanks. First time for everything, I guess. Or, well... second.

[ The second part of her reply is mumbled under her breath, but audible nonetheless. ]

Or second and third, if you're as lucky as me.

[onlyanapple]

You'd think you should have a little medal by now.

So who was it?

Meg

[originalcopy]

Hey, you ever going to tell them I didn't fuckin do it? As much as I love the decor down here, this isn't my preferred vacation spot.

[putuporshutup]

What the hell are you on about?

[originalcopy]

They think I killed you. Which is utter bullshit.