He stares at the body, broken and bloody, discarded in the middle of the street like some forgotten thing. His head tilts as he surveys the surrounding area; the man who committed the deed was long gone and no one else seemed to have noticed, or if they had, well, they weren't doing anything about it. She wasn't dead, not yet at least, gurgling and gasping for air through her shattered ribs and punctured lungs, and yet no one but him seemed to hear her. It was deafening! The sound of each choked breath reverberated in his ears, the steady rhythm of her fluttering heart pounding inside of his skull, the sounds of whispered pleas dying on her bloody lips- it was maddening! Why was no one helping this poor girl?

"Disgusting, isn't it?"

He sighs heavily, not needing to turn his gaze to know exactly who it was that had intruded upon his solitude.

"Not now Crowley." Castiel is in no mood for this and his voice is clear evidence of that fact; he will not tolerate Crowley's cruel imitation of friendship tonight, not after what happened. Not after what was still happening. Couldn't the demon just let him sulk in peace?

"Kitty pee in your cornflakes Cassie?" He teased, refusing to take the hint from his gruff companion and instead moving closer to stand at his side, eyes fixated on the dying girl sprawled in the middle of the wet asphalt- it was beautiful. "Ah no, I get it. Dean finally dumped your sorry ass eh?" The sudden tension in the air was palpable, and Crowley, ever supportive of self-preservation over being snide, put a few steps between them, though he passed it off as trying to get a closer look at the girl. "I never took you for the morbid sort Cas, maybe I'm finally rubbing off on you." He chuckled, turning back to face the silent angel, still looking at the girl with a determined fixation.

"This has nothing to do with you. Leave." Cas' resolve was fading just as quickly as the girl's life; he had pushed away the only people in the world to have truly cared about him and now he was alone. Even Crowley was a welcome distraction at this point, anything to keep his mind from wandering back to that conversation with Dean… 'He trusted me…'

"Don't you see? This is what you're tryin' so hard to save. This!" The demon gestured at the dying girl with blatant disgust, though it was clearly not directed at the grisly scene, and instead the situation in general. "The same people who'd leave a girl alone to rot in the middle of the street. You're tryin' to save them! For what?"

This was strange coming from Crowley; the two had made an agreement after all- what was his angle, as Dean would put it. 'Would have put it.'

"I didn't know that you worked for Raphael." He shot Crowley a steeled glare, features hardened into a mask of indifference; it was a look he had practiced well over the years.

"Funny. You a comedian now? Don't think you're gonna find it so funny when the Winchester's are moppin' the floor with your-"

"Do you have a point Crowley?" Castiel cut him off with a growl, warring with himself as to how desperate he was for companionship that he was tolerating Crowley. Would he be condemned or redeemed for ridding the Earth of the snarky demon? "Because I suggest you make it before you try my patience further."

"Ohh, I love it when you get all wrathy- okay okay!" He held up his hands in supplication at the glare Castiel sent his way, fiddling with his jacket before he spoke again. "All I'm sayin' is, are you even on your own side anymore? Do you really think they're worth savin'? After everything you've seen this year, all the shit you had to put up with, don't you think it's time to throw in the towel?"

Now Castiel was suspicious. Crowley would gain nothing if Castiel sided with Raphael, in fact, he'd lose everything. Their agreement was vital to him achieving Purgatory and Crowley had proven that that mattered more than anything else. Still, his questions had sparked up an interesting string of thoughts in his mind; what was he doing? Why was he fighting so hard to save something that was trying so hard to destroy itself? The girl moaned in response to his thoughts, writhing on the ground and meeting his gaze with tear-filled eyes… No, that was not possible. He was invisible to the human eye! It had to be coincidence…but her gaze did not waver, and nor did his own, and they stared at one another for a solid minute before Cas could no longer bear it.

He crossed the street to kneel at her side, the knees of his pants instantly soaked through to the skin as his hand brushed her bruised face with uncharacteristic tenderness. Finally he understood… 'Father or no father…'

"I will keep fighting, because I have faith…" His voice was soft as the girl's body began to repair before his eyes, broken bones mended, bruises faded, lacerations knitting closed in an instant. "Faith that the world will become a better place, faith that humanity will one day redeem itself, faith that Sam and Dean will continue to do the right thing, faith that I-" 'Will have the strength to do the same.' "That I am not alone in this." A reassuring hand settled onto his shoulder, squeezing it gently; strange, he hadn't heard Crowley get that close to him. He looked up into the face of the demon, tilting his head as Crowley's features flickered like the image on a poor television screen; he could have sworn that Crowley had just looked like- no, it was impossible. The demon vanished with a smile, leaving Castiel with wet knees and feeling no better than he had minutes before. Beside him the girl stirred, opening her eyes and looking up at him with a curious expression.

She got to her feet slowly and it was his turn to look confused as she placed a hand on his shoulders to hold him in place, leaning close and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. His eyes closed almost reflexively at the gesture, feeling strangely at peace for the first time in a long while; it was… unsettling. She spoke then, and he opened his eyes immediately to find nothing but the empty air and her words echoing in his mind.

"You're not."