Far From Over

Part One: Lacking Faith

Michigan, 2010

Castiel frowned slightly as he stared at Dean's pendant, the small bronze shape lying limply in his hand before he closed his fingers around it and looked up at the old church that he was currently standing in front of. The pendant had started acting… oddly, to say the least. It was supposed to help him find God, and yet it led him to this old church. The angel let out a long sigh, an increasingly more human emotion, as he stuffed the pendant into the pocket of his trench coat and proceeded up the stone walkway to the church, pushing open one of the massive wooden doors in the process.

The search for his Father was starting to become trying.

When he entered the still hall where the sermons were usually delivered, he was surprised to find that no one was there, not even a priest; at least until he spotted the teenage girl kneeling on one of the pews a few rows to the front of him. She sat there with her eyes closed and her hands clasped tightly together as she softly whispered the words to the Lord's Prayer, occasionally stumbling over a phrase, although whether it was from inexperience or the lack of recent prayer, he had no idea. Her long reddish-blonde hair hung down her back in a tight braid, and the shorter strands not restrained by the braid dangled limply in her face. She was clad in clothes that looked a little too big on her, but were both in good repair; a green, blue and white checked flannel shirt and a pair of dark wash blue jeans, as well as a scuffed-up pair of brown leather work boots.

Castiel stood there and watched her for a few more moments before he started to head up towards the pulpit with the intention of locating the priest and speaking to him, only to be distracted by the odd warmth coming from the pocket of his coat where he had placed Dean's pendant. The angel reached down and slowly withdrew the necklace before he stared at it curiously. It was… glowing.

A soft yelp from the pew where the girl was sitting startled him, and he looked up in time to see the teen look down at something that was hanging around her neck before she quickly reached up and stuffed it underneath her shirt. Curious…

The girl let out a long sigh and ran her hand down her face in an obvious gesture of exasperation before she got to her feet, letting out a soft hiss as circulation returned to her legs after kneeling for a long period of time, and started to head for the door. Castiel stepped out of the shadows and directly into her path, causing the teen to stare at him with wide grey eyes as she quickly came to a stop. The angel cocked a dark eyebrow before he attempted to soften the intense look on his face that so many humans found disconcerting, and looked down at the young human.

She blinked, and then gave him a somewhat sheepish smile as she stuffed her hands into her pockets, pulling back the tails of her unbuttoned flannel overshirt and revealing the dark gray t-shirt she wore underneath.

"Sorry, I didn't realize that anyone else was here," she apologized as she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "It's just been a while since the last time I went to church…"

"And I apologize for frightening you," Castiel said as he inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement to the younger girl. "It was not my intention. I was unaware that anyone else was in here as well."

The girl gave him a wry smile as she let out a soft chuckle and glanced over her shoulder at the large wooden carving of Jesus hanging on the cross suspended at the front of the room. Castiel quirked an eyebrow slightly as he followed her gaze, and then cocked his head slightly.

"Why have you not been to church recently?"

An odd expression crossed the girl's face, a slightly pained look that Castiel had learned to associate with a situation that the individual in question did not wish to talk about, before she managed to smile weakly. She let out a soft sigh as she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, averting her gaze slightly.

"I guess you can say that I kind of lost faith," she finally admitted as she shifted uncomfortably in her spot. Castiel gave the girl an odd look, not understanding what she was saying.

"Why have you lost your faith?" he asked. It was unusual to hear this from someone so young. Didn't most human children want to believe in the divine? Dean had never believed, so his reluctance to accept anything coming from heaven was to be expected. The girl's eyes widened slightly as she looked up at him, almost as though she had recognized him from somewhere, and she paled somewhat.

Castiel frowned as he regarded the teen curiously. Did she know Jimmy Novak? It could become problematic if this girl, this child, knew his host. Castiel was painfully aware that he could never act like the man whose body he now controlled.

"Umm… just… stuff happened," she stammered hesitantly as she reached up and made as though to fiddle with something hanging around her neck, only to draw back when she realized that it wasn't there. Castiel thought back to whatever she had hidden under her shirt earlier. For all intents and purposes, this girl appeared as though she was hiding something.

The young human looked up at him, and stormy gray met vivid blue for an instance before the girl's gaze faltered, and she looked down at the ground.

"My family died in a car crash a few years ago," she finally said in a small voice. "I was the only one who survived. Like I said, it's kind of hard to have faith when everything you know is taken away from you because of one thing."

Castiel nodded in silent agreement as he directed his own gaze to the cross hanging in the front of the church. "I understand."

Silence reigned between the two for several moments before the girl glanced over at him, an expression of polite curiosity on her face.

"So, why are you here?" she hedged.

"I'm looking for God."

Unexpectedly, the girl burst into wry laughter as she shook her head.

"You and me both," she muttered softly, a slightly hurt look flickering in here eye as she looked up at the wooden figure that hung suspended from the cross. "You and me both."

Castiel wasn't quite sure how to respond to that particular sentiment.

The girl seemed to sense that she had said something that she probably shouldn't have and promptly flushed a rather odd shade of red in obvious embarrassment as she averted her gaze momentarily. An awkward silence passed between them before she glanced back over at Castiel and offered him an abashed grin, obviously attempting to make up for her earlier comment.

"Well, I think you're in the right place to start," she offered sheepishly, and received an unfathomable stare in response. Words seemed to fail the teen as she quailed slightly under the angel's intense gaze. The girl didn't say anything else as she slowly lowered her eyes before she glanced down at the watch she wore around her right wrist, and then promptly groaned.

"Crud. I need to get going, otherwise the-" Castiel watched in interest as the teen cut herself off, apparently about to say something that she shouldn't, before she corrected herself. "Sorry, I told my friend that I'd meet him at the bookstore in an hour, and it's been an hour now, so I'm probably going to get a text or a phone call or something with him asking where I am."

With that statement, she turned around started to head for the door, pausing only to look over her shoulder and give the angel a faint smile.

"I hope you find what you're looking for," she said kindly, although there was still a faint hint of sadness lurking in her eyes. And with that statement, she exited through the heavy wooden front doors.

Castiel stood there for a few moments, mulling over the strangeness of humans in general, much less female humans, before he started back towards the back of the church to finish his earlier task. It was only then that he noticed that the pendant had ceased its strange actions. The angel blinked as he stared down at Dean's pendant, and was suddenly struck with the very human urge to curse.

He was back to where he started now.

Corey Matthews let out a long sigh as she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck before she chanced a glance over her shoulder, sending a weary look at the old church behind her. That guy in there was kind of… odd. For some weird reason he really reminded her of Misha Collins, heck, he even looked like him. But what would an actor be doing in an old church out in the middle of northern Michigan?

Although, to be honest, it was hardly old if one compared it to the churches in Europe. This church was probably built sometime in the early 1900's, whereas some of the old European churches were constructed centuries ago. And getting to see said churches while they were actually fairly new and in pristine condition…

Corey chuckled wryly as she realized that she was rambling, even while thinking. Yet another trait that the Doctor had somehow rubbed off on her. The girl shook her head and stuffed her hands back into her pockets as she set out down the dirt road that led back towards the main part of town as she forcibly booted her mind back onto the topic at hand. Again, why on earth would Misha Collins, or at least someone who looked like him, be hanging around an old church?

The girl froze for a second as a thought came to her, and she half turned around to glance back at the aged wooden building once again with wide gray eyes. Now that she thought about it, he was acting like the character Castiel… and he was most certainly dressed like him… maybe they were filming a scene from Supernatural somewhere around here? Or, perhaps Misha Collins was just practicing his whole 'Castiel' act and trying to get into the mindset of the character.

Corey let out a low laugh as she turned back around and resumed her trek back towards the town, biting back the urge to hang around to see if she could grab a peek at one of the other actors running around – assuming that they were actually filming an episode here that is. She wouldn't tell the Doctor about this; he's just laugh and ruffle her hair. Not that she minded that, of course, but she also wanted to evade another three hour long discussion on what creatures did and didn't exist, and whether or not the legends on them were correct. She also really wanted to avoid the argument on the non-existence of any divine powers. The Doctor was really stubborn when it came to the whole 'science vs. religion' thing; 'stubborn' here meaning 'the supernatural does not exist, period'.

And this was coming from the man who traveled through time and space in a Police Public Call Box.

It was funny though. Corey had been a lot more relaxed while traveling with the Doctor and seeing the sights that he'd shown her over the past few months than she had been in a long time. It was just that incident with the shape-shifter the other day… the girl broke off that thought with a shudder, recalling the look of absolute betrayal the thing wearing her father's face had given her right before she had flung the powdered silver she had carried right into its eyes.

She didn't think that she'd ever forget that, even if she lived to be a thousand.

Corey scowled as she recalled the real reason why she had begged the Doctor to give her an hour to herself, and raked a slightly shaking hand through her hair. Fighting the shape-shifter had dredged up memories that she would much rather stay buried. And for some reason, even though she hadn't stepped inside a church outside of Christmas and Easter mass for years, she still remembered the feeling of peace the structure had given her as a child. So, she had gone to the closest church in the small town that the Doctor had landed in 'for a bit of a breather'. And surprisingly, praying had made her feel better… if only a little.

A cold breeze blew through the trees surrounding the dirt road, and Corey hunched down slightly as she tried to avoid the chill biting at the exposed flesh of her neck. She really should have brought her jacket with her, but she hadn't really been thinking at the time. The girl frowned slightly, and muttered something under her breath about toughing it out until she got back to town.

Suddenly, all the hair along the back of her neck stood straight up, and Corey whipped around to stare back at the church with wide eyes, the strong wind blowing her bangs straight into her face. For one moment there, she could have sworn that she had heard the sound of large wings flapping behind her, but there was nothing there. Unconsciously, the girl shivered slightly as she glanced around to observe the forested landscape, the overcast sky lending it a bleak light, before she turned around and started to double-time it back to town. She didn't know what had just happened, but something about it set her on edge.

She also needed to ask the Doctor about her necklace. The last time she had checked, it was just a replica of Dean Winchester's actual necklace. Hell, there was even a 'made in China' stamp on the back engraved into the metal. It wasn't supposed to start glowing out of nowhere.

Maybe it had accidentally gotten exposed to some weird phosphorus or something on one of the planets they had visited recently. But still, it wasn't supposed to glow.

With that thought in mind, Corey pulled the necklace out from under her t-shirt and was surprised to see that it had stopped glowing. The girl cocked an eyebrow curiously, but shrugged it off as she released the metal pendant and resumed her trek back to town. The Doctor was probably wondering what was taking her so long anyways.

The thought that she had just encountered something completely out of the ordinary, even by her standards, never even crossed her mind.