Once Sera gets her emotions in check, she places a call to Amanda who thankfully happened to be on lunch at the time the drama at work occurred. She told Sera everything seemed to be back to normal when she got back. All her co-workers were back to their annoying nosey selves asking her where Sera had run off. All was business as usual, except Gabe—no one seems to have seen him at all today.
Sera's fists clench against the steering wheel again, why her? Why is all of this happening to her? As her anger increases, her hands on the steering wheel begin to glow slightly. The power seemingly drawing from her increased feelings of frustration grows brighter.
Amanda is still babbling into the phone, Sera interrupts, "Uh, Amanda."
She grows quiet, "Yeah?"
"I can't come back to work."
"What? Why?"
"I'm a ticking time bomb. I don't know what I am capable of, I don't know how to control it."
"We can get through this together Sera, don't leave me."
"I'm not leaving you, I just can't work there anymore. Maybe I can find a position billing from home or something."
"Sera..."
"I know, I know, but, things are coming after me too. Wherever I am, no one is safe."
Amanda breathes heavily into the phone, "I just don't want to lose you."
"You will never lose me."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Sera breathes a sigh of relief.
One solution down, only a million more to go.
Sera starts her car and drives off toward home. Somehow, on her way there, she takes a detour. She can't seem to find the energy to explain her early appearance to her mother. She's debating on whether to call Nate when she is passes Jack's Coffee Bean. Something inside her is begging her to stop. She obeys, pulling into the parking spot right in front and heading inside.
Walking through the door, the aroma of coffee wafts toward her, and it seems to calm her nerves. Maybe it's Jack's psychic voodoo, that makes this place feel like home. Jack doesn't seem to be behind the bar today and surprisingly, she's disappointed. She had a feeling he had more to tell her. He had the answers she so desperately seeks.
She places her order with the skinny blonde with pink highlights before taking her spot in the green chair in the corner. Curled up in her chair with her latte in her hand, she stares out the window as her mind attempts to wrap itself around the day she's just had.
"Sera?" Jack calls from the hallway to his office.
With a forced smile, she replies, "Hey Jack." He takes a seat across from her and she can feel his eyes study her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." She lies. It must not have been that convincing because Jack is on his feet with his hand out for hers.
"Come, let's go to my office to talk." She allows him to take her hand and follows him down the hallway to the back. The nervous feeling she had around Jack has diminished. He would never hurt her on purpose. He welcomes her into his office. It's surprisingly modern. She's never been in here before; it just doesn't seem like Jack.
It's modern, sleek, glass bookshelves have shelves alternating randomly across the width of it. His desk is large and glass sits on curved, sleek, gunmetal posts. Also, it's neat. For some reason, Jack's Californian appearance made her think he should be more carefree and disorganized. Behind his desk sits a few filing cabinets and next to her is a black leather couch. Jack takes a seat on the couch and motions for her to have a seat next to him. She does so, but for some reason avoids eye contact by keeping her eyes on her hands in front of her.
"Sera, you are definitely not okay."
"I am okay now, but I had to quit my job."
"Why? What happened?"
Something urges her to respond, honestly. "Something happened at work." He looks at her through blond ringlets that have fallen into his face as he waits for her to continue. With a deep breath she does, "My boss called me into the office today with these strange accusations. But, then I noticed something weird about her eyes..."
"Were they red?" he interrupts.
"Uh, yeah, bright red. How did you know?"
"Red eyes are a sign of possession." He motions her to continue.
"Will they be like when I was possessed," she whispers the word as it still haunts her. "That I didn't know what was going on?"
"Yes, they have no memory of what happens while under the influence of a spirit."
"It was the creepiest thing I've ever seen." Her arms wrap around herself, "But
what do all black eyes mean?"
"Why?" he gulps, "Did you see black eyes?"
"One of my coworkers, his eyes turned all black like an alien or something, and he attacked me."
"He attacked you? You were attacked by a Demon and you survived? How?"
"A Demon?" She repeats as Jack continues to hound her with concerned questions. On some level, she knew this.
"How did you get away, Sera?"
"I just ran."
"Sera..." his face grows serious now, his eyes fall to the floor.
"What is it?"
"There's something else I need to tell you." He twists now, pulling her hands into his.
"No more secrets Jack."
"Right, no secrets." He breathes deeply. "Well, remember I told you the spirits like you? And the entire spiritual world is just becoming more and more open to me?"
"Yes."
"Well, in the spirit of transparency, I feel I need to tell you. I was contacted by someone so purely evil, I will have a nasty taste in my mouth forever."
"Who?"
"Lucifer," he whispers his name insinuating just the mention of it could cause him to appear. "He reached out to me the other night. It was through a spirit."
"What?" She is on her feet in seconds pacing back and forth.
"Sera, please sit back down."
"I can't. I just need to release some nervous energy. Just tell me what happened." Her pacing continues.
"He asked me to use my relationship with you to get you to join us."
"Join us? Us?" My mind caught that before anything else.
He glances toward the ground again, "Yes, he informed me my gifts are not by accident. He had given them to me. This was all some kind of sick plan of his."
Sera's feet stop in front of Jack. He glances up to her face. The look must not have been too pleasing. "Sera, my powers may be evil, but I am not."
"How is this even possible?" She rambles.
Not able to take it any longer, Jack jumps to his feet grabbing the sides of her arms to keep Sera still.
"Sera, I would never hurt you. I love you," he admits as his sea green eyes explore hers.
"Did you just say what I think you said?" She blinks.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I brought all this on you, but," he breathes, "I can only be so sorry because it brought me here... it brought me to you."
"Jack..." Sera whispers, before collapsing to her knees in front of him. He mirrors her, dropping to his knees as well. "There is something I need to tell you as well."
He places his hands on her face bringing her eyes up to meet his, "What do you mean?"
"I don't really know how to tell you this, but you didn't bring this all upon me." She continues to tell him about Nate and the accident and something to the effect of her being half Angel and how she seems to attract evil now. When she finishes, his hands have dropped from her face, and he is sitting a little farther back than before.
"Sera, what is Nate to you?" his eyes full of pain as he expects her answer.
"I..." She blinks. "Um, I don't exactly know."
"But, it's serious?"
"His-blood-runs-in-my-veins, serious."
Jack leaps to his feet like she had just scalded him with hot water. Resting his lean frame against the glass bookshelves, he folds his arms in front of him.
"Jack..." her voice trails off slightly. What could she possibly say? The hurt in his eyes is more than she can bear. "I had no idea you felt so strongly. I didn't plan for any of this to happen. I never wanted you to be in the middle of this."
Her eyes begin to fill with tears as the words slip from her mouth. He caves, coming back to kneel in front of her. "It's not your fault." He reaches his hands out helping her to her feet once again, "Actually, it sort of all makes sense now."
"What do you mean?" she asks keeping her eyes on their clasped hands.
He chuckles a little as he explains, "Well, now I know why the spiritual world is all worked up about you. I know why I find you so irresistible."
Sera coughs uncomfortably, "And why exactly is that?"
"Because you're half human, half Angel. You are a beautifully, powerful anomaly."
"What makes that special?"
"You are the only one of your kind."
"Really?"
He continues, "You can make your own rules, you are human you can walk the Earth and communicate with other humans. You are your own race."
"Why are you looking at me like that?" his gaze makes her shift in the chair uneasily.
"I was right, Sera, there is something about you," he laughs. "I've been reading up on what I thought was mythology lately."
"Cut to the point."
"Well, Angels don't bleed. Angels don't hunger, want, thirst, or do anything besides the work of God. The fact that Nate felt the way he did about you, the fact that when he cut himself, he actually bled, goes against everything I've ever read about Angels."
"So, what does this mean?" her head is shaking from side to side now.
"It means you, Sera, are a once in a lifetime anomaly. Someone up there," he points to the ceiling, "really went through a lot of trouble to make you who you are today."
Without a word, Sera plops down on the leather couch. Jack again finds his way next to her.
"I don't know what to say..." She whispers trying to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.
"You don't have to say anything Sera. Just take it all in." Jack whispers back into her ear as he places his arm around her on the couch, pulling her closer.
"Jack, can I ask you a question?" she peeks up at him.
"Ask away."
"When I was possessed you were fighting Nate, how were you able to keep up with him?"
His mouth scrunches up as he contemplates this, "I don't know. That was right after I was contacted. Maybe, he's trying to even the side by expanding my gifts."
"Okay," she nods, "I have another question: If you are 'evil' then how come I feel so safe with you?" She makes sure to make quotation hand signal as she says evil.
He smiles for the first time since she mentioned Nate. "Because you know I'd never hurt you."
"Not like that." She rolls her eyes, "I meant when we were at the club, I could feel danger, but when I was with you they didn't bother me again."
"Again? So, something did happen in that bathroom."
"Yes."
"Was it Demonic? I smelled evil around."
"He had black eyes, yes."
"Where is he? I'm going to kill him." His fists clench at his sides.
"He's dead. Well, as dead as Demons can get." He looks at me expecting more. "We killed him yesterday."
"Yesterday? Then, how did you get away at the bar? You looked so freaked out."
"He approached me at the bar. I snuck away from him, but he followed me into the bathroom. He kept calling me Angel. I didn't know what he meant at the time." She pauses before adding, "He tried to touch me."
Jack's body stiffens, "I wish I had killed him myself."
"I got away. I ran into you and things were fine from then on."
"How exactly did you escape a Demon?" he catches her gaze.
She can't stop the smile that crosses her face when she remembers the cocky blond propped up on the wall of the bathroom with broken shards of mirror around him and the sink spurting water all over his face. "I pushed him through a wall."
"You pushed a full grown Demon?" He sounds suspicious.
"Yeah."
"Wow, I wish I could have seen that."
"That's another thing I don't understand, why couldn't you? He was just there when I left and gone as soon as you opened the door."
"I'm not exactly sure. That, unfortunately, sounds like a question for Nate." The way he mentions his name makes it sound foul. "I just know that for me, no one can see what I see. So maybe you are in the same boat, now we can see things on a spiritual level that others can't."
"Are there two different levels of spirits? Because I can't see yours?"
"Maybe it's because we are meant to be on different sides." He admits the connection Sera was trying so hard not to make.
They sit in silence for the next few minutes both continuing to process. Eventually, Sera has a question first. "Jack, what do your spirits want from me?"
His curls bounce slightly as he turns his head back to meet her.
"What do you mean?"
"You said they were all worked up about me. Well, what do they want from me?"
"Uh, I don't exactly know." He looks uncomfortable. "They haven't exactly asked me anything, I just see more and more around. I feel a... disturbance. He stands looking away at his loss for words, "It's hard to explain."
"It's okay Jack," she shrugs. "I was just wondering."
They sit on the couch for a few more minutes in silent contemplation until Sera decides she should get going. Jack walks her down the hallway and across the shop to the front door. The shop has closed since they had gone into the back. The lights are dimmed and he reaches into his pocket to take out the keys to let them both out.
His hand pauses before the lock, and he turns back to her. "Sera, I want you to know. I'm not going to do it."
"Do what?"
"Help him. I refuse to harm you. I will do anything in my power to help you Sera, do you understand?" His blue-green eyes glimmer in the dim lighting. Her gut feeling is picking up something else now... love. Sera glances away, embarrassed.
"Thank you Jack," she smiles up at him, "I'm sorry to put you in this position."
Why does everyone seem to be in danger because of her?
"This isn't your fault. None of this is. Don't ever feel like you are a mistake, you are just the opposite."
"Thanks," she meekly states before he pulls her into a hug. His strong arms wrap around her protectively. Part of her wishes she could reciprocate the feelings he has. On the other hand, a small part of her has always belonged to Nate. It's hard to put into words, but heck so is the rest of her life now. They say their goodbyes, and he protectively watches her walk to her car and head off for home.