Disclaimer: I own nothing pertaining to Supernatural. I don't even own the DVDs (yay for libraries!). I'm a poor college kid with no life and too much time. Please don't sue me. :)

Modern Mary

Chapter 1

He was drunk. Drunk enough to believe the liquid was blue rather than brown from the neon light advertising vacancy just outside his motel window, but not drunk enough. Not drunk enough to forget all the bullshit of his life thus far; to forget Lisa, Ben, and the failure of his transition into a "normal" life, to cease sleeping with a gun under his pillow, to go to PTA meetings, to stop waking in the middle of the night wracked with hollow and dry sobs. Not drunk enough to erase the image of his brother's face as he fell into the pit. Not drunk enough to forget losing everything he ever held dear in his whole fucking life. And certainly not drunk enough to ignore the arrival of a high-horsed, trench coat wearing, pity faced angel.

Dean Winchester turned his head to avoid looking at Castiel. He downed the rest of his glass, the liquid not nearly searing his throat enough. They were silent for minutes before Castiel laid a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Cas," Dean said, his voice hoarse from being unused. He cleared his throat. "This is one hell you can't drag me out of."

Castiel removed his hand and moved Dean's weapon bag from the other kitchenette chair and sat down. "I know. I'm not here to save you." His low voice registered in Dean's brain as grating and irritating.

"Then why the hell are you here?" Dean asked gruffly, turning to scowl at Castiel.

Castiel looked away, a determined expression on his features. "I… may have some bad news."

Dean scoffed, thought about it, and then full out laughed. The sound was sardonic and harsh and rang in Castiel's ears with the buzzing of the blue neon sign. "What could you possibly tell me right now that I would consider bad news?"

"Gabriel may have found Mary before Lucifer killed him," Castiel said.

"My mom?" Dean asked, seemingly to instantly sober.

"No. The virgin," Castiel replied, looking Dean in the eyes. His expression was serious and unfaltering.

"Wait, like the chick that gave birth to Jesus?" Dean asked, his eyes widening.

"Yes."

"The same one is alive again now?"

"No, her name is Katherine Chase. She's the modern Mary," Castiel said.

Now in the sixth month, the archangel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,to a virgin. Luke 26-7

Katherine Chase had no memory of being visited by Gabriel. Lucifer had made sure to destroy that memory. She had no memory and no knowledge of her own importance. Not that it would have stopped her from bungee jumping off a bridge, anyways. She enjoyed adrenaline and insisted it was better than sex even though she couldn't compare. The anticipation, the rush, and the gratification when it was over were as close as she'd ever gotten. And it didn't bother her. Life was life no matter how she lived it and who she screwed.

As the attendant was unhooking her harness, she heard the sound of wings cutting through the air. She turned around, expecting to see a large bird, but saw nothing but the group of people waiting their turn. Katie dismissed it as her ears acting up after the fall. She was grinning from ear to ear as she met eyes with her best friend, Joe.

"Oh my God, that was so fun!" she said, grasping his hand as they walked to the locker room to change out of their wind breaker outfits.

"That was seriously the coolest thing we've ever done!" Joe exclaimed as they practically skipped away from the bridge, the sound of the coursing water distant now.

The adrenaline high was still pounding through their veins as they neared the locker room. Every particle of Katie's body was humming and it was worth the world to share the experience with Joe.

"Nothing can top that! I'm still shaking," Katie said as they spun the combinations on their lockers.

Joe was quiet suddenly. He opened his locker and paused as Katie unzipped her windbreaker, revealing the white tank top and jean shorts she had on under it. She stepped out of the noisy material before she realized that Joe had hardly moved.

"What's wrong?" She asked, resting a hand on his forearm. "Are you feeling sick? Sit down."

He started to sit but straightened up and looked at Katie. "I'm not sick. I feel fine. In fact I feel absolutely fantastic and I don't want this to go away. This right here, Katie, is what I want to feel for the rest of my life. I- I think, I think I'm in love with you."

Katie's jaw dropped. "Wh- what?" She'd never heard those words before and she sure as hell wasn't expecting them now.

Joe smoothed a hand down one of Katie's messy, pig tail plaits. She reached into her locker and grabbed her black framed glasses and put them on. Now she clearly saw his expression; one of love and expectations.

"I love you, Katie," Joe repeated, tilting his head down to hers.

She hesitated before thinking Why the hell not? and kissed him.

There was a shuffling behind them and they broke their kiss to look. Katie turned around to see a man in a long trench coat. She blushed at being caught kissing Joe by a stranger.

"Can we help you?" Joe asked the man.

"Yes, actually you can," the man said before pulling out an ornate knife.

Katie screamed and backed up against Joe, pushing him back and away from the man with the knife. Then Joe held his ground and pushed Katie against the lockers. Her chin smacked the metal and she saw stars as she fell to the ground. She crawled behind a trash can in a panic. Joe and the man were circling each other and Joe's eyes were as black as coal. Something strange was happening here.

"Did you think that I wouldn't find out?" the man asked Joe. His voice was deep and menacing.

Joe laughed, his black eyes dancing. "I figured the time would come but I didn't think you'd come alone, Castiel."

Fear flashed across the man's, Castiel's, face as three people, Joe's parents and older brother, entered the locker room. Katie hadn't seen them at the bridge and didn't know they were there. Their eyes were also completely black. Katie knew bad news when she saw it and started to crawl around to the other row of lockers. The dirty tile was cold on her bare knees and hands and had the faint scent of urine. She quietly moved her way across the floor, as the sound of fighting echoed throughout the locker room, covering the sound of her ragged breathing. Then there were hands on her shoulders, pulling her small frame back on to her feet. She screamed and the man ran around the other end of the lockers, the sounds of fighting had been silenced. Confusion ran through her mind, if the man with the knife wasn't holding her, then who was? She looked up and saw Joe, his eyes still black, he had a knife of his own and Katie wondered where he'd gotten it as he pressed it against her throat. He surely didn't have it before. His family must have had it when they came.

"What's going on?" she demanded, tears streaming down her face. She looked at Castiel, worry and hesitation colored his face.

"This person is not your friend, he's a demon," Castiel responded.

"What?" Katie screeched and tried to wiggle her way out of Joe's grasp.

"I'm a demon, Katie," Joe said in a very annoyed voice.

Desperate now to get free, she remembered the stupid Self Defense class she took the summer before through her college. The knife across her throat was held in his right hand and his left was holding on to her shoulder. She grabbed his forearm with both hands, squeezing the part of his arm that caused his hand to loosen involuntarily at the same time as she stomped down onto the top of his foot with her left.

He was strong and the move didn't do as much as she'd hoped, but it did enough to surprise him. She was able to duck her way out of his grasp with a minor cut to her throat. Castiel grabbed her and pulled her away from Joe, flinging her behind him as he fought Joe. She turned and ran out the locker room door, the door hitting something solid that made an "oof!" noise. But she didn't stop to see who she had hit; she ran to her car and tried to open the door. It was locked and her keys, money, phone, and ID were all in the locker room.

"Dammit!" She said, tears still rushing down her cheeks. She turned around in circles, ignoring the people around her who looked at her warily. Then she heard running footsteps and took off. Whether Castiel or Joe won, she didn't care. All she knew is that they were both violent and terrifying and she wanted to go home.

Katie took off running again towards the main road, hoping that she could find someone who'd give her a ride home and away from this place. Before she could get to the road, Castiel appeared in front of her and grabbed her. She screamed and tried to get free but he touched her head and they were somewhere else.

She was stunned and felt a little bit sick. "Did we just fucking Apparate?"

"Maybe. I don't know what that means," Castiel said.

"Who are you?" Katie asked as she looked around and stepped away from him. They seemed to be in a motel, judging by the two beds with ugly quilts and the generic, peeling wallpaper. Castiel was closing the curtains when she looked back towards him.

"I am Castiel," he replied.

"Are you going to hurt me?" She asked uncertainly, hugging her arms around her.

He stopped shutting the curtains to look at her. "No. I would never hurt you," he said in a strong, serious voice. He held her eyes until she looked away.

"Okay. And, um, I have to ask, forgive me if it's rude, but: what are you?" She asked. She was always an open minded person. She believed in many things that most people wrote off as imaginary. Belief in magical things made life less mundane.

His face relaxed some and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "I am an angel."

Katie laughed even though her heart still raced in panic.

"No, I'm serious," he insisted.

"Alright, I believe you. You kinda used angel magic already. But why the hell- I mean, heck, sorry- would you be here with me?" Katie asked, her heart rate slowing just slightly.

Castiel was silent for a moment. "That man was not the person you thought he was. He was a demon. And part of my duty is to eradicate the demons from Earth," he responded.

"Demon? What do you mean by demon?" Katie asked.

"An evil spirit from Hell possessed your friend," Castiel explained.

"Why?" Katie asked as the door opened.

A man entered the room and looked from Katie to Castiel. She stiffened, ready to run. "Is this her?" he asked.

"I would hope so, or I just kidnapped someone else," Castiel said, looking back to Katie.

"Are you Katherine Chase?" the man asked.

"Shouldn't you have checked that first?" Katie asked.

"Yes," the man said and looked pointedly at Castiel.

"Yeah, I'm Katie," she said. "Why?"

"We knew your friend was a demon," Castiel said before the other man could say anything.

"Who are you?" she asked the newcomer.

"Dean Winchester," he said and held out his hand. His eyes were lit with charm and she blushed as she shook his hand.

"Are you an angel, too?" she asked Dean.

"Not a chance," Dean replied with a chuckle.

"Well, thanks for saving me, Dean and Castiel. I'd like to go home now," Katie said and walked to the door. Dean leaned one hand on the door above her head as she turned the knob. "You can't keep me here," she said as panic rose again.

"We have to. Demons will be after you," Castiel said.

"Why? What's so great about me?" Katie demanded.

"You know about them," Castiel said and shot an unreadable glance to Dean.

"Someone's going to report me as missing. My roommate will. My parents will. I have school tomorrow," Katie listed.

"I'm sorry, Katie," Castiel said, looking down. "But it's for your own good."

Katie shook her head as she fought down tears. "No, I want to go home."

"That's not your home anymore," Castiel said.

"And this is? Where are we?" she said, stomping to a window.

"At a motel. About an hour from your home in Nazareth, Pennsylvania," Castiel said.

Katie rested her forehead against the window. "This is insane," she mumbled.

"Tell me about it," Dean said, looking pointedly at Castiel. He lowered his voice "Cas, I've committed a lot of crimes in my day, and there's a lot of things I'm willing to do, but kidnapping is not one of them."

"This is not kidnapping. This is protecting an innocent girl who has a pivotal role in the fate of this universe," Castiel responded. "And she can not know the role she plays until it's necessary. She engages in life risking behavior for fun. She can not continue in those ways."

"She's a virgin adrenaline junkie?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Castiel said.

"Right, this'll be fun," he said with a sigh.

"Katie, I have to burn some Enochian Sigils into your rib cage," Castiel said, approaching her. She backed up.

"You have to what?" She asked, crossing her arms over her ribs.

"I have to burn Enochian Sigils into your ribs to be sure no other angels can find you," Castiel repeated.

"You're kidding right?" Katie said, backing up further.

"Cas, you can't kidnap and then brand her," Dean said. "Is there any other way to hide her from the angels?"

"No, this is the only way," Castiel said.

"Since when are angels bad?" Katie asked.

"Since God left," Castiel said. "And they're not bad. They just have a different agenda than us."

"Okay, this is getting way too weird," Katie said distastefully.

"You have no idea," Dean said.

"Why do I have to hide from the angels?" Katie asked.

"Because you know about them and demons. It's so you can keep your free will," Dean replied. "I had to get the sigils burned into me, too. It hurts like hell for about a second and then you don't feel a thing."

"Only for a second?" Katie hesitated.

"Only for a second," Dean confirmed.

"Alright then," Katie said, still unsure. "As long as it'll keep me safe, I guess."

She uncrossed her arms and allowed Castiel to place his hand on her chest. There was a second of blinding pain and she cried out, and then it was over. Dean handed her a necklace that had a pentagram hanging from it.

"This will hide you from demons," he said as she put it on.

"You weren't kidding when you said it would hurt like hell," she said.

Katie sat heavily on the edge of one of the beds with a sharp sigh.

"Now what, Cas?" Dean asked.

"We run."

AN: I think it needs to be said that I've never written nor even read SPN fanfic before. So I could be dancing in tropes right now and not even know it. Apologies if I am!

Katie Chase is simply a character that has been forming in my mind for awhile and to fully imagine her I've placed her in fanfic, so that some day I'll use her in original fiction. Picture her kinda like Emma Stone's character in "House Bunny." Super nerdy but still has qualities that the average person can relate to and is in desperate need of a make over (but Katie doesn't get one, don't worry. She'll remain a geek). And I chose SPN as the universe to place her in because I literally JUST finished season 5 like yesterday. I was sooo happy to see that Cas wasn't ded forevers that I had to gloat via present day fic featuring him. IDK. :)

Thanks for reading, darlin'! Updates should be fairly regular depending on school work. (Any one else English Majors and Education/Psychology Minors? Represennnttt! :D )