Author's Note: Please review! I don't own Supernatural. Scoobynatural was amazing!

October 31

Castiel had time to think, and that was never good. Uriel stood still as a statue as they waited on the Winchester brothers to arrive back at their motel room. The other angel's silence, while usually customary, somehow felt like a foreboding omen.

Once again, Castiel was full of doubts.

It had happened a lot lately, these last 20 or so years since Anna had Fallen. For example: What were the angels doing to stop this seal, the Rising of Samhain, from being broken? Was it only himself and Uriel? Why were they leaving such an important seal, which they knew the demons were planning on breaking (as opposed to the hundreds of seals they were unsure about) up to the Winchester brothers?

And what of their true orders: follow the orders of the righteous man, Dean Winchester. What was the reasoning behind this?

Also, surely his superiors must have known that the righteous man was in Hell. They must have known since he had arrived in Hell the previous spring. If not, Castiel felt that this had been a fairly large oversight. Why had it taken his superiors so long to give the go-ahead for the siege on Hell? He could have pulled the righteous man before he had broken, if he had only been informed earlier…

Most of all, Castiel felt, more and more these days, that something was terribly wrong in Heaven.

But he was a soldier, a Captain now. He was a righteous angel, and his duty was to follow orders without question. Once again, he shoved his doubts aside. They were blasphemy.

His thoughts were disrupted by the arrival of the Winchester brothers, accompanied by a woman Castiel had never seen before.

Castiel had met Dean, of course, and he had also seen Sam, though Sam had not yet met him. The woman surprised him, however. He knew the Winchesters were not often accompanied by guests, particularly on hunts. The Winchesters were his charge, after all – if she had spent a significant amount of time with them before, Castiel felt that he would have known.

The first thing Castiel noticed about her was her smell. She smelled like… Heaven. She smelled like everything he wanted, and everything he hadn't even realized he had wanted. He stared at her, narrowing his eyes, and realized that he never wanted to stop staring.

But there were other matters to attend to. Sam was shouting, "Who are you?"

Dean spotted Castiel, and vaulted into the hotel room ahead of Sam. "Sam! Sam, wait! It's Castiel… the angel." He gestured to Uriel, who Castiel had almost forgotten was also present. "Him I don't know."

"Hello, Sam." Castiel replied in his deep voice, at last wrenching his eyes off of the woman.

"Oh my God!" Sam responded, clearly at a loss for words. "Er, uh… I didn't mean to… sorry. It's an honor. Really, I've heard a lot about you." Sam attempted to shake Castiel's hand, which Castiel returned reluctantly.

"And I, you," Castiel said. "Sam Winchester, the boy with the demon blood. Glad to hear you've ceased your extracurricular activities."

Castiel then turned once again toward the woman, who was looking at him with apprehension. And then he realized: she was half-demon! The force of this realization made him almost stagger back in alarm. The righteous man was spending time with a half-demon? He hadn't known any even existed! The anti-Christ, here with them! Did his superiors know?

Sharply, he asked, "Dean, why have you not killed the half-demon?"

The half-demon drew out her revolver, and Castiel in turn drew his angel blade. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sam and Dean screamed. "Everybody put the weapons down!"

Castiel would kill her, he had to kill her. He could not hesitate… but they were under orders to follow the orders of the righteous man. And the righteous man seemed to already know that she was a half-demon. Reluctantly, and against his better judgment, Castiel lowered the angel blade, and the half-demon did the same, staring daggers at him.

"Ember is a friend," Dean said to Castiel. "She's helping us with the case."

"But she's half-demon." It wasn't a question. "She will kill us all."

"No, she won't!" Dean said.

"I've never killed anyone I could save," Ember spat at him.

Castiel looked at her quizzically again. He had expected a typical demon response: "Bite me," or something like that.

"She's a friend, Castiel. We're all friends here," said Dean. "Cas, put that away. Ember, your revolver won't work on him anyway."

Once again, Castiel was bound to follow the orders of the righteous man. Finally, he lowered his weapon, and the half-demon did the same.

He could not kill her, but he still had to know the truth about her. How many had she killed? His superiors would want a report back. Uriel was waiting on him to take action.

Slowly, he approached the half-demon. The smell got worse, and he wanted to… he wanted to… he swallowed hard. She shrank back, putting her hand up to stop Castiel if needed, as though she had that power.

Perhaps she does have that power, Castiel thought with alarm. If she did, she wasn't using it, however.

"I won't kill you," Castiel promised. He very much wanted to kill her, not least of all because he didn't like the way she was making him feel. Still, the righteous man's orders were law, for now, and it would not do to make Dean angrier than he already was. Dean already didn't trust him, which Castiel found disrespectful and blasphemic… but then, Dean was only human.

Dean was also standing directly in front of the abomination – not that he couldn't fly, but he knew for a fact that Dean was quick, and could fight fairly well, costing them precious time. For now, Castiel needed to placate the righteous man, and that meant placating this abomination.

More importantly, demon minds had natural resistance to mind-reading, and the process Castiel was about to attempt was more likely to work for Castiel if he somehow managed to convince her to agree to it. "I won't hurt you, either, just keep your hands to your sides," he said. "I just want to look inside your mind, to judge you. It may make things easier for everyone."

"And what if you judge me unworthy?" Ember asked the angel, her eyebrows knitting together.

That was likely, but she needed to be judged, nonetheless. Uriel was shooting him an impatient look, and Castiel knew that Uriel wanted him to get on with it. Still, once again, Castiel thought it best to anger as few people as possible, and give himself the best chance of getting the most information possible. If she would not allow it, like with the psychic Pamela, he would have to do so by force. Castiel thought for a moment, then said, "I will inform you before I kill you."

He doubted whether that would make a difference, and prepared to read the abomination's mind by force. Miraculously, however, the half-demon nodded to Dean, who moved out of the way. Castiel took two fingers and stretched them out to Ember's head, allowing them to linger there for a minute.

Immediately he was hit by the force of her mind. He had expected her to resist him, but it was the opposite – she laid herself bare to him. It hit him unexpectedly, and the pleasant feeling he had felt before overwhelmed him suddenly. He was drowning in it- he had never, ever felt this good.

He was a proper angel.

With an effort, he backtracked. He resented her, suddenly, for allowing him to get lost in this feeling. Still, he also could tell from her mind that it wasn't her fault – it was part of the abomination, related to who she was, and she couldn't help it.

No longer overwhelmed by the feeling of her mind, Castiel began to sift through and absorb information.

Ember Nelson – that was her name. She was Bobby's daughter, though a demon had been involved at some point. Bobby's daughter… that's how she knows the Winchesters, then.

She was a Therapist by trade. Therapist? Really?

Castiel sifted through her mind, attempting to pull relevant information. A kill count, he wanted a kill count. Four humans. No, that wasn't right. Four human hosts. And guilt, so much guilt…

Castiel held back a snarl, frustrated. She was hiding things from him. But she wasn't hiding anything, he could tell that. He was accomplished in mind-reading, and he would've known if she had put up barriers. He looked further back. There must be something…

But there was nothing, nothing even demon-related, until her teen years. Her powers hadn't manifested until her teens. Was this common? He had heard of a few half-demons, and all of them had laid waste to thousands of humans, though he didn't know if that had started while they were still young.

Then there were the teen years… here he could feel her mind protesting, but she did not create barriers. Castiel got the impression that she didn't know how, though it would've been easy enough for her to do if she'd wanted. Then things had happened to her… bad things, because of demons. There was something important here, he thought, but the force of the feelings that accompanied the things that had happened to her was so strong that it blocked out everything else. She hated demons, hated them… she would never be like them…

Her mind set up a barrier of its own accord, steering Castiel suddenly away from these memories. He could tell, however, that the barrier was put up accidentally to avoid the memories rather than on purpose in order to hide something, so he allowed it. He had touched on enough of the memories to know their content, anyway, and he no longer wished to see these memories. She may be an abomination, but she had done nothing to deserve what had happened to her at the hands of the demons.

Instead, he sifted through other, more mundane memories to find her powers. "Party tricks," she had said to Dean. Opening doors, making objects come to her from across the room… She hasn't tapped into her real powers. This is nothing near what she is capable of. He could see it in her mind. "I'll never be like them…" She was too afraid of going "dark side."

But recently there had been more, ever since Dean had gone to Hell, Castiel could see. She could move humans now, and recently she had helped Sam and Dean fight off demons in a restaurant…

Castiel had seen enough. He severed the link to her mind, and felt cold suddenly, and unhappy, without the pleasant feeling he hadn't even realized he was still experiencing. He felt disoriented and uncomfortable, an odd feeling in itself for the angel.

Finally, Castiel removed his fingers, stepping back away from Ember. "Very curious," he said. "You have maintained control of your demon powers. You have never made a kill that was not a demon. You have even spared the host, when you could manage it. I must consult with my superiors about whether or not we should kill you. But, do not fear, it will not be today. We have other matters to attend to. This raising of Samhain, have you stopped it?"

Ember looked at Dean quizzically, who caught her eye and shrugged while Sam answered the angel's question. "Angels," he said. "They're weird like that."

October 31, Night

Castiel's superior was a businesslike woman named Domiel. Castiel had always considered himself lucky to have Domiel as a supervisor – she was fair, but kind to everyone and merciless in battle. Domiel had been his supervisor since her promotion, which had been around the time Anna had fallen over 20 years ago. At that time, Castiel had been promoted to Captain, the position everyone had expected Domiel to take, and Domiel had been moved forward an extra rank to Corporal. Before that, Domiel had been the closest thing to a friend that Castiel had had.

"Do you think that the half-demon needs to be killed?" Domiel asked Castiel shrewdly.

Castiel shook his head. "The Winchesters trust her. And like I said, I could find no stains on her record. There has never been a killing that wasn't a demon, and she has exorcised the demon and saved the human host when she could."

Domiel continued to look at Castiel shrewdly. "This is odd… I will have to take this to my superiors. Although, if we can be sure she fights on the side of our Father, she may be helpful in the coming war. Certainly, we cannot yet discount this."

Domiel folded her hands in front of her, which Castiel took to mean that she had come to her decision. "I will wait for a decision from my superiors," she said. "In the meantime, you will keep watch over this half-demon in addition to your other duties. Find out more about what makes her different than the other half-demons Heaven has encountered, and, most importantly, any risk of leaving her alive. You do not need to watch her on a regular basis, like you do the Winchesters, unless you feel the need. Just check on her from time to time. Is that acceptable?"

No. No, it wasn't acceptable. Castiel never wanted to see the half-demon again. After all, had his orders not been to follow Dean's orders, he would have smited her on the spot, like Uriel had wanted. She made him feel… things, and the last thing he wanted to do was feel more of it. And yet, he couldn't wait to see her again…

"Is there a problem?" Domiel asked, and Castiel realized he had not answered immediately.

Castiel looked at his old friend. He couldn't possibly say, "She scares me because she makes me feel things." The memory of losing Anna was still too raw, and he would not be the next to Fall. "No," he said finally. "Consider it done."

November 1

Dean, Sam, and Ember had not saved the seal, and the doubts were back, in full force. The angels had known the demons were attempting to break that seal. Shouldn't this have commanded the attention of more than two angels? Castiel had been sure that there would be other angels on hand if the Winchesters had failed to save the seal, but he had been wrong.

He decided to visit with Dean, who was currently sitting on a park bench watching children play. Once he arrived, however, he was unsure how to begin the conversation. Their last conversation had been awkward at best, after all. Unsure of a better topic of conversation, Castiel said, "Your friend is interesting."

Dean scoffed. "Have you decided whether or not to kill her?"

Castiel paused, but he saw no reason not to pass along Domiel's conclusion. "She will be monitored, but for now my superiors have determined that she does not pose a threat and may in fact be helpful to our cause."

"Too bad you pissed her off, then, isn't it?" Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"She understands our initial hesitation. Half-demons are extremely rare, and usually very powerful. Finding one that has not indulged in that power for demonic purposes is rare and special indeed."

Dean nodded, and Castiel continued brazenly. Perhaps Dean would be able to properly explain the feelings that Ember evoked. He knew her better, after all. "She makes me feel funny, and I don't like it."

Castiel was immediately unhappy with what he had said. He sounded like a petulant child, and his words certainly did not befit a thousands-of-years-old celestial being.

"Are you trying to tell me you desire her?" Dean asked in amazement.

"No," Castiel said immediately, no doubt in his mind. "Angels do not desire humans, and they certainly do not desire demons."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Castiel."

Clearly Dean was as clueless as Castiel about these feelings. Like the rest of his doubts, Castiel vowed to put them from his mind. He had ignored the doubts for over 20 years now, since Anna's fall; he could ignore them some more.