Shadows

Castiel calls on Sam and Dean for a favor, and the brother's head to Point Pleasant, West Virginia where they find a dying town full of their darkest secrets. Lucifer makes an appearance. A new character named Imani is introduced.

Sam, Dean, Bobby and Castiel watched the flames consume the photograph of their last hunt with Ellen and Jo. Cas didn't understand why the last photograph of Jo and Ellen was being burnt, but it seemed to be some sort of hunters ritual. Looking over at Dean's face, Castiel tried to discern what his human friend must be feeling, but he couldn't tell. Cas, himself, wasn't sure what he felt. Although he didn't know them well, Cas liked Ellen and Jo; they were really good people, which, as Cas had painfully learned, was a rare thing to find on earth. Looking over at Bobby, Cas saw the pain on his face and Cas finally understood what was happening here: grief. Sam, Dean and Bobby were each grieving in their own way. Grieving for the loss of their friends, who sadly, had died needlessly, grieving for the loss of two women whose love and compassion would be missed, and for Dean, grieving for the loss of someone who could have been a great love. Looking at Dean's face again, Cas saw the grief that would always be etched there and finally understood what Dean was feeling.

That's when Cas decided to leave.

Quietly exiting the house, Cas walked with purpose through Bobby's salvage yard. Gathering himself, Cas disappeared through time and space. Within seconds, he was standing in front of her house. As he always did, Cas toyed with the idea of not going in. Since arriving on earth, Cas had been consistently warned that an angel's involvement with human women only led to disaster and thus, he had avoided doing so. Even when Dean took him to the brothel, Cas had avoided intimacy with the woman by telling her about her father. Cas knew himself well enough. He would have told that woman the truth anyway, but he also knew that he couldn't take advantage of her. Besides, the woman he really wanted was inside the house he was standing in front of.

Cas shuddered. He was putting Imani in danger just by being around her, but he couldn't stay away.

Instantly, Cas flashed himself inside the house and found her asleep on the couch in the living room. She was dressed in boots, jeans, and a fisherman's sweater. Her long dark curls were shielding her face and the dark skin on her arms, where the sleeves were pushed up, revealed a disturbingly large bruise and the insignia of a swastika branded on her skin. Cas walked over to the couch and gently laid a rose he found outside next to Imani's arm. She smiled in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. Cas sat himself in a chair and watched her pull herself up. Her long dark curls cascaded down her back as Imani picked up the rose and put it to her lips. She smiled again, and Cas felt his heart do a flip.

"Thank you, Cas." she said, "It's beautiful." She turned the rose over thoughtfully. "What's the occasion?"

Never one to mince his words, Cas looked at her and said, "Jo and Ellen Harvelle are dead."

Imani's face went pale, and she looked at Cas with sincere horror. Cas could see tears gather in the corners of her eyes, and he was almost sorry that he said anything at all. Cas had brought Ellen and Jo to Point Pleasant a couple of weeks ago to meet Imani, and the three women had gotten on famously. Now, Ellen and Jo were dead, and Cas feared that with the work that Imani was doing, she would be a target next.

"I want you to quit the work that you are doing," said Cas. "Right now, it is too dangerous."

Imani drew in a long breath and looked at Cas. "I can't do that."

"Imani" began Cas, but she interrupted him.

"I have to do this Cas," she looked at him with pleading eyes. "You know why."

Cas looked at her and sighed. He looked down at her arm. The sleeve was pushed up, revealing the swatiska, and the rather large bruise that he had seen earlier. Cas picked up her arm and pushed back the sleeve. The bruise seemed to extend up her arm. Cas looked up at her with concern.

"Cas," said Imani, "it's nothing."

Cas looked into her eyes, and felt himself lost there. He felt urged or even compelled to react as a human man would have and kiss her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and feel the softness of her skin against his. He wanted to feel her body lying beneath his. Imani was staring at him appealingly as if she wanted him to kiss her. Cas started to move forward, consequences be damned. As he drew near, he looked into Imani's dark brown eyes, and finally understood why the lure of human woman was so strong and why so many angels, particularly the nephilim, fell from grace. Cas knew that he was risking both of their lives, but in that moment, he did not care.

Luckily or not, Cas was saved by the bell.

Imani turned and grabbed her cell phone. She flipped it open, and her face turned pale. "It's Simon."

Grabbing Cas's arm, the angel flashed both of them to a house outside of the city. The house was dark and was already in a partial state of disrepair. Cas felt extremely uneasy, but Imani was already heading for the door. Cas flew up in front of her and opened the door. The house smelled musty as if no one had lived there for some time.

"Simon lives here?" whispered Cas questioningly as he and Imani entered the house.

"It was his family home," said Imani turning on the flashlight. Turning the beam around, Imani revealed each corner of the house, but other than cobwebs, the house appeared to be cold and silent.

"Imani?" said a voice quietly. "Is that you?"

Imani began to move toward the kitchen with Cas not far behind her. She responded, "Yeah, Simon, it's me." Moving the flashlight back and forth, she did not see him which began to add to her fear. Entering the kitchen, Cas and Imani recoiled in horror. Simon was standing on a stool with a noose around his neck. Gathering herself, Imani stepped from behind Cas and moved forward to talk to Simon.

"Simon," she began, "we've talked about this." Imani felt herself shaking, but fought to control it. "You are alive." She reached up her hand to take Simon's. "You have come through the worse of it." Gently, she grasped his hand. "Please take that noose off and come down."

Simon stared into Imani's eyes and began to cry. "I can't." He reached behind himself and tighten the noose. "He is coming."

"Who?" asked Castiel, trying to distract Simon, while concentrating on breaking the ceiling beam where Simon had thrown the rope over.

"Lucifer," whispered Simon. "He's coming to torture me again."

"Simon," said Imani in her gentlest voice, "We've talked about this." "Lucifer did not torture you."

"No," snapped Simon, "It was his vessel, Sam Winchester."

Both Imani and Cas stopped cold and stared at each other. How did Simon know Sam Winchester? Taking advantage of their distraction, Simon jumped off of his chair and a sickening crack followed with his neck cleanly breaking. Imani screamed and tried to reach up and undo the noose, but Castiel restrained her in his arms.

"Imani," he whispered in her ear, "it's too late."

Crying, she turned and buried her face in his chest as Cas grabbed his cell phone and called the police.

The police came within ten minutes of Cas's call. The retrieval of Simon's body was a perfunctory affair with the police only asking a few questions of Imani and Cas. When the coroner came to retrieve Simon's body, Imani went outside to sit on the front porch. Cas took one last look at the body and especially memorized the face. Simon was an ordinary looking man at best with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Like Imani, he had a few scars on his arms from the torture he endured. He didn't know Simon well, but knew from Imani that Simon had been possessed by a demon and had been tortured by Sam Winchester, who, Cas believed, thought he was actually exorcising demons. Leaning over, Cas made the sign of a cross on Simon's forehead. Although Cas was a fallen angel, he knew that this symbol would force heaven to acknowledge Simon and perhaps give him entrance into heaven.

Cas walked away and onto the front porch where Imani was waiting for him. She had her arms wrapped around her body and stared at Cas. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red. She looked as though she was preparing to say something, but Cas cut her off immediately.

"No," said Cas. "The Winchesters do not need to come here."

Imani looked at Cas and managed a wan smile. "Cas," she replied, "the Winchesters are the key to everything." She stopped and shook her head to regroup, then looked back up at Cas again. "If they are here, perhaps, these victims can find some peace."

Cas turned from her and sighed. He knew that she was right, but felt that it would be too dangerous to have Sam and Dean in Point Pleasant. Cas felt a hand gently grasp his shoulder and turn him around. "Cas, I need to find some peace." She reached into his pocket and put the cell phone in his hand. "Make the call."

With that, she walked off the front porch. Cas pulled open his phone and pulled up his list of contacts. Scrolling down, he found Dean's number, but paused. Looking up, he stared at Imani. He couldn't bear it if something happened to her. Moving his thumb, he pressed send.

"Hello?" came Dean's voice from the other end.

"Dean," said Cas, "I need a favor."