The days fall past. I'm counting them down to the seventh day. I've prepared myself in every way imaginable. Training, sharpening my powers, sharpening my weapons. I'm ready for whatever fight the Winchester's can bring me, and I'm ready to reclaim my rightful place, and kick Jasper down some while I'm at it.

The seventh day arrives. It drags. Nothing happens all day. I start to question the reapers' judgement. I wonder if my dad knows anything. I wonder if Jasper knows anything.

Suddenly, there's an alarm outside my quarters — the breach alarm.

We have company.

I grab all of the gear I could possibly need and waste no time taking the fastest route to the sanctuary: teleportation. With the thought of it, I find my feet planted on the steps of my post. I can hear a fight inside, and barge through the doors.

The fight I find is one-sided for the most part. My father is nowhere to be seen. Jasper and a few stray reapers are being beaten to smithereens by none other than Sam and Dean Winchester, and one of them is smited by their angel as I enter.

"Mallory! Help!" Jasper calls. His voice is strangled out.

Quickly, I move into action. I head straight for where Jasper's voice resonates from, and lend my aid.

I pull a man off Jasper (I'm not sure who anyone is, except for the angel smiting my fellow reapers), and begin sinking every ounce of strength into blows to his face. For a moment, I've got him in my hold, and I'm ready to finish him off. However, as quick as I had him, I'm just as quick to find him besting me.

My vision begins to blur while spikes are delivered over and over to my face and body. I fight back as much as I can, but it only helps to a certain extent. Someone wasn't playing fairly — there's no way a human could beat me like this. Out of the corner of my blackening vision, I see Jasper and the remaining group of reapers fleeing from the sanctuary.

"Jasper!" I scream, desperate for some kind of release from the terror gripping my being.

"I'm getting help!" He yells, then darts out the doors.

"Dean!" A male voice yells. "Stop! Not her!"

My attacker is removed from me, and I find myself in a beaten heap. This is the worst humiliation I've ever felt. Not only does this physically hurt, but my pride is quite damaged.

As I lay still, my eyesight returns. There's a man in a trench coat kneeling beside me. It's their angel.

"If you're going to smite me, then do it," I command him. "There's no reason to sit there like a fucking idiot unless you're waiting for me to get up and kill all three of you."

"Be quiet," the trench coat tells me. I feel a light touch to my forehead, and then I'm out.

"Are you sure that'll hold her? This is a horseman's daughter. She could kill us all if she wanted to."

"Sam, relax. She doesn't know how. Death hasn't taught her anything. She couldn't even fight Dean off."

"That's saying something."

"Shut up, Sam."

I lift my head. It hurts. My whole body hurts. I'm in chains, as well as straps, in a chair. The chair is placed in some sort of symbol on the floor of wherever the hell I am. I look in front of me, and there they stand: the flannel-clad idiots themselves, accompanied by their angel.

"She's awake."

"Mallory, how are you feeling?" The angel asks. He steps toward me.

"Don't touch me," I growl.

I'm rendered helpless, as he does so anyway. He taps his fingers to my forehead again, but this time, I'm not put to sleep. A warmth takes over my body, and instantaneously, I feel brand new. I hate to say that the angel helped me.

"Let me go," I request. "I'll rip you three to shreds."

"You should've done that in the veil, sweetheart," a man with taunting, sparkling green eyes smirks.

"Dean," the angel mumbles. "Apologies. There's a lot to explain."

"Maybe you should start with what the hell is going on around here? And why I'm bound to a chair in God knows where?"

"For starters, my name is Castiel. This is Dean," he motions to the green eyes taunting me from a corner, "this is Sam." He motions to a tall man across the room from Dean.

"Great. You know who I am."

"Cocky," Dean chuckles. I glare daggers at him.

"You too, for someone who beats women," I sneer.

Dean laughs whole-heartedly. "You could barely call yourself a woman. You're not even human. And if I recall correctly, you started it."

I roll my eyes. "Can I help you three? Or am I just here for entertainment?"

"Partially," Dean comments, sending a wink my way.

"Dean, shut up," Castiel snaps. If it weren't for the given circumstances, I'd like Castiel.

"Listen, Mallory," the angel sighs. "This could be quite confusing, but we're here to make a deal with you and possibly help you."

"Help m-" I'm cut off by Castiel holding a hand up.

"I said, listen. As you may know from your experience at the sanctuary, Sam's soul is in there. But Sam is alive. And he needs his soul. We've done all we can to bargain with your father, and he won't help us. However, there's something in this for you, so keep listening. We need you to help us get into the sanctuary and retrieve Sam's soul. It's not good for a living body to be separated from the soul."

"And what exactly do you think I'm going to gain from this?" I ask.

"I know for a fact that you explored the room containing Sam's soul. I know that you stumbled upon an unmarked soul."

"Stay out of my head," I warn. "And what about it? It's just an unborn soul."

"You're wrong," Castiel corrects me. "Mallory, your mother was human. She had a soul, which means that even though you're part reaper, you should have one as well. But I can see that you don't."

"What about it? It's a birth defect. I don't need a soul."

"But you want one."

"I said stay out of my head."

"I learned all kinds of things while you were out," Castiel tells me. "You don't like where you're at. You feel worthless, like you aren't helping anyone, and it's true. You aren't doing anyone any good right now. You're envious of human emotion and interaction. You don't want to be a reaper, not really."

"Okay Dr. Phil," I laugh. "This is ridiculous. I'd never dream of helping any of you and you can shove your assumptions up your ass."

"So be it," Castiel resigns.

The three walk out of the room and leave me sitting in the dark. Days go by. I'm beginning to wonder if Jasper was truly getting help, or simply fleeing. Something about that hurts me.

My mind wanders to what it would be like to have a soul. Would it make me full human? Would I still have my powers? Would I be able to live amongst other humans in peace?

Would my dad allow it?

I sit for what feels like hours. I ponder with my thoughts and let my mind simply roam the idea of Castiel's proposition. I wonder if I have a soul. Based off what he said, I do, but my dad always told me I don't. I feel the conflict forming in my head; who do I trust?

A knock sounds on the door. I don't give permission, but Castiel enters anyway.

"Hello, Mallory," he greets me in a gravelly voice.

"Castiel," I acknowledge.

"Your thoughts are loud. I know you requested I not read them, but they're quite useful to me. I know what you want."

There's no denying that he knows exactly what's gone through my head. Part of me wants to keep my tough façade, part of me wants to be honest and discover my options. But then I remember that one of Castiel's buddies — one of the Winchesters — almost killed me, and I feel less inclined to open up.

"It was a mistake, you know," Castiel tells me. "It's not like any of us knew what you looked like or who you were in order to refrain from attacking. And you did assault Dean first."

"Whatever, he still almost murdered me!" I exclaim. "Why would I want to help someone like that?"

"If it means anything, he did apologize to me for that," Castiel informs me. "Of course, it's not an apology to you, but I am sincerely sorry for his actions. We only wanted to bring you here safely."

"Okay, fine," I cave. I want to find out where this is going. "How do I know you're not going to use me and then kill me off, like the rest of the reapers? And who are you working with that got you into the veil? Did you kill them?"

"Because I already know you, Mallory. You're loyal. If you worked with us, you wouldn't betray us, and it would be a strong team. Teammates don't kill each other. That being said, no, we didn't kill Tessa. She was returned safely to the veil."

Tessa. Not surprising.

"Do I have a soul?" I blurt. The question leaves my lips without even a single thought of it. I'm surprised at myself, but I need the answer.

Castiel looks at me carefully. "It's about time we discussed this."