TA-DA! Here it is, the follow up to Still Unbroken. Hope the title is okay; thanks go to the band the Lostprophets for writing a great song and title :) Anyway, a big thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter of Still Unbroken; I can only hope you enjoy this story as much as the last one! :) I'll follow the plot of season 5 to some extent, but Miriana will be separate from the Winchesters quite a bit (don't worry Cas will pretty much always be there). The rating is T at the moment but it's likely to go up to M later in the story. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up by the weekend, but anyhoo, enjoy! :)

I'm dead, thought Miriana, I must be dead. She chanted it over and over in her head as the white light broke in waves over her head as if she was underwater. She kept a vice like grip on Nate's jacket, squeezing the fabric so tightly her fingers ached. The noise was so loud she felt certain she would be permanently deafened, or the skin stripped from her skin by the intensity of the wind. Her grip on Nate's unconscious body felt like the only tenuous link that was keeping her attached to the earth.

Abruptly, the light stopped, turning the world dark again. She risked a peek from behind her tightly scrunched shut eyelids, slowly opening them when she realized it was safe. The terrible aural assault had also stopped, leaving Miriana's ears ringing and her head spinning. The scream of the wind died down too until it was little more than a light breeze, brushing over her skin. She slumped back against her car, completely relieved and calm, until she gathered her thoughts and remembered everything that had happened.

Sam. She shot to her feet, looking over the roof of her car towards the dark horizon, searching for the convent. There was nothing left of it, just a mound of bricks and mortar in the distance. She felt the sting of tears behind her eyes as she gazed into the distance; there was no way Sam could have survived the blast of light and power that had sprung forth from the convent. And the light- the feeling of it washing over her had been so familiar. Then she remembered with a sudden jolt her first encounter with Castiel that night at Pamela's, before he had contained his raw power inside a vessel. Granted, the light she had felt pouring over her tonight had been a thousand times stronger and a million times more painful, but it had still felt angelic. And that, she realized with a horrible feeling of dread descending over her, meant that Lucifer was out. There was no other explanation for an explosion of that magnitude, or a burst of that much power.

She hastily wiped the tears away from her face when she heard Nate groan, stirring back into consciousness. She didn't want him to think anything was wrong just yet.

"Hey, sweetie," she said softly, kneeling down beside him in the dusty gravel, "How's your head?"

He slowly reached up and fumbled along his forehead until he found the bleeding cut, "When did that happen?" he asked groggily.

"I don't know," she replied, "You fell when the explosion hit; I guess you did it then."

"Oh!" he sat up suddenly, then fell back against the ground, clutching his head, "What was that light?"

"I think..." she paused. There was no point lying to him now, "I think it was Lucifer, Nate. He's out."

Under the blood and dust and sweat, Nate's face visibly paled. He glanced up at the dark sky, as if expecting an answer from the stars.

"Oh God," he muttered, "We're in some serious shit now, huh?"

Miriana gave a shaky laugh, "Yeah, I guess so. Can you get up?"

"Give me a hand," he grumbled. Miriana slid an arm underneath his shoulders and helped to haul him to his feet, moving him against the car so he could lean against it. He sighed heavily, dabbing at the cut on his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

Miriana shook her head, "I don't know. Look for Dean, I suppose."

Nate paused for a long second, scuffing the gravel under his feet, "What about Sam?"

Her eyes filled with tears again, "I...he was in that building, Nate. He can't possibly have survived that blast."

"You never know," he said, giving her a half hearted smile, "You know what the Winchesters are like. Always being resurrected."

"Not this time, I don't think," he said, her voice shaking.

They both stayed silent for a few minutes, each lost in their thoughts. She couldn't take her mind off Sam. Had he known what he was doing when he broke the devil free from his prison? No, she told herself. He couldn't have known. Sam had spent most of his life hunting evil; there was no way he would have raised Satan deliberately. She stared up at the starless sky, wondering if the angels were looking down and clapping their hands in glee, full of joy that their plan had worked so smoothly. She wondered where Castiel was, what he was thinking. She couldn't see him being as happy as the rest of his brothers and sisters.

"We should get moving," Miriana said, breaking the tense silence.

"Yeah...right," Nate muttered dazedly. Miriana cast him a worried glance. As soon as they got somewhere safer, she was definitely getting his head checked out.

"Well, well," came a cold, drawling voice from behind them, "Look what we have here. The charming Miss Westchild and her little baby faced cousin, what a treat."

She whirled around, stepping in front of Nate. There were four people sauntering towards them, and she guessed from the cruel smirks on their faces that they were demons. Her fears were proved when their eyes flashed liquid black. There were two nondescript men, and a voluptuous, dark chestnut haired woman with her arm around third man, who was all cheekbones and clear, ice blue eyes.

He was horribly familiar.

"Rueben?" she asked tentatively.

His cold smirk grew, "Hey, Miriana. Long time, no see, baby."

She felt Nate tense up behind her, his muscles coiled as tight as a spring.

"Oh terrific," she spat, "Just what I need."

"I think I could be just what you need," he said huskily, his eyes roving all over her body, "If you weren't so uptight."

Nate gave an involuntary jerk behind her as if he was about to launch himself forwards, but she held her arm out across his chest. They'd rip his face off if he tried to fight them.

"That's right," Reuben said, his voice mocking, "Protect what's left of your pathetic little family. They'll be dead soon, and then I'll have you all to myself."

He disentangled himself from the dark haired woman and stepped forwards, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair away from her forehead. From anyone else, it would have felt tender, but from him it felt lecherous, and she winced away.

"Imagine what a treat that will be," he murmured, "Don't you think Selene?"

The dark haired woman smiled an awful, oddly feline grin then bit her full bottom lip, as if in anticipation.

"Definitely," she purred.

Miriana felt her stomach turn over, and fought the bile in the back of her throat, "I'd rather shove bamboo splinters down my nails," she hissed.

"Well that can easily be arranged," he said in a cheerful tone.

"Why are you here?" she asked, very aware of the cold press of the hilt of the knife digging into the exposed flesh of her hip.

"Why do you think? We're here for the party," he said, spreading his arms wide, "Our saviour has come."

"You mean Lucifer?" she said, and then let out a bitter laugh, "I hardly think he's a saviour."

"Well, not for you," he said, gesturing at the two of them, "But for us, it's pretty much one long party. Hell on earth."

"How nice for you," Miriana spat.

"Yeah it will be," Reuben said, "And I think I might take you along for the ride."

He gestured at the two hulking demons behind him, and they stepped forwards in unison, pushing Miriana roughly to one side and closing their huge fists around Nate's arm, dragging him aside.

"After I've gutted your precious little cousin, of course," he said, pulling a knife from inside his tailored jacket.

She took her chance when he turned his back and launched herself at him, wrenching the knife free of her belt. She raised it through the air, aiming for the spot right between his shoulder blades, but before she could make contact, Selene stepped forwards, driving her knee into Miriana's stomach. She gasped in pain, winded, and the knife dropped to the floor with a clatter. Selene grabbed a fistful of Miriana's short dark hair, wrenching her head back roughly so she gritted her teeth in pain. She heard Nate cry out, then there was the unmistakeable sound of knuckles hitting flesh, and Nate was instantly silenced.

Reuben bent down and then straightened up, clutching her knife in his long, slender hands.

"Well would look at this," he said, letting out a low whistle, "Ve-e-ry nice. What do you think of this, Selene? Looks kind of like Ruby's, don't you think?"

"Yeah," she hissed, tightening her hold on Miriana's hair. She could feel her long, manicured nails scratching against her scalp.

"Let her go," he said, gesturing towards Selene. She instantly relinquished her hold and Miriana staggered forwards, fighting the urge to smooth her hair.

"Where did you get it?" he asked, his eyes cold.

"None of your business," she snapped.

He backhanded her, the slap of his hand against her cheek stinging like a bad sunburn. She stumbled backwards, clutching her cheek whilst the other demons let out low chuckles and Selene let out a shout of high pitched mirth.

"You always were a snotty little bitch," he hissed, "But don't worry, I'll beat that attitude right out of you."

He drove his fist into her stomach and she doubled over, coughing. He leaned down next to her, his hot breath washing over her ear, "Where's angel boy now, huh? Not such a fantastic saviour after all." he raised his fist to punch her again, the paused, his head cocked to one side as if he was listening for something.

Both Reuben and Miriana turned around in shock when of the demons holding Nate choked suddenly, black smoke pouring out of his mouth in great coils. He dropped to the floor, Embriel casually stepping over the body.

"Well angel boy may not be here," she said in a clear, carrying voice, "But I certainly am."

The second demon that had been holding Nate started forwards, but Embriel held out her hand and he crumpled to the floor like the other demon, smoke trickling out of his mouth and sinking into the ground. She turned to Selene, who shrieked in alarm, throwing her head back and opening her mouth so the demon inside the host escaped, rising into the night sky like a cloud borne on the wind. Reuben froze, his eyes flicking between Embriel and Miriana, and she could see the indecision in his eyes. Then, just as Selene had, he tipped his head back and with a long, drawn out cry, he left his handsome host, vanishing into the dark sky.

Embriel let out a loud sigh, "He's a persistent little bastard, isn't he?"

Miriana merely grunted in response, kneeling down to retrieve the knife from where Selene had dropped it on the floor. She carefully slid it back into her belt.

"Thank you," she said, turning to Embriel, "You keep showing up and saving my life."

"You don't need to thank me," Embriel said gently, "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you."

She reached out and patted Miriana's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Er...Hello?" yelled Nate indignantly, slumped against the car, "Nobody asks me if I'm okay? I might have a friggin' concussion and a haemorrhaging stomach!"

Miriana rolled her eyes and walked over to the car, opening the door and pushing Nate inside, "Stop whining. We'll get to the nearest motel and we'll sort you out."

She slammed the door to shut off his stream of protestations and turned back to Embriel, "Thank you again. I owe you big time."

She went to climb into the driver's seat but Embriel stopped her, her slender hand on Miriana's arm, "Miriana, have you seen Castiel tonight?"

Her heart did its typical little back flip at the sound of his name. She had forgotten all about him and their blistering argument.

"I saw him a few hours ago, just after you left him," she replied, deciding not to disclose what had happened between the two of them.

"And you haven't seen him since?" she asked. Miriana wasn't entirely sure, but she was certain she could hear the slightest note of anxiety in her voice and see a spark of it in her dark green eyes.

"No," she said slowly, "Why?"

Embriel released her hand from her arm, giving her a weak smile, "No matter. Just go and get some rest."

Miriana wasn't going to let it drop that easily, "Has something happened to him?" She felt sick at the very prospect.

"No," Embriel said, but she wasn't convinced.

"If something has happened," she said, fighting to control the shake in her voice, "Promise me you'll tell me."

She placed both her hands on Miriana's shoulders, "Nothing has happened."

She paused for a few seconds before she turned away, "Alright."

"Look after yourself," she called softly, as Miriana slid into the driver's seat.

"Are you alright?" Nate asked as she started the engine, "You look really white."

She glanced in her rear view mirror as her car bounced down the road. There was no sign of Embriel.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said eventually. She could only hope that everyone else was fine, too.