A Strange Light in a Strange Land

Three weeks.

It had been three weeks since the world was thrown for a loop once more. Three weeks since Dean said yes to Michael and had been betrayed. Three weeks since Jack lost his powers. Three weeks since she made the decision and now seeming a mistake to even the playing field. Three weeks since Abba had lost almost everything.

Hibah sighed as she looked around the bunker. She was still getting used to seeing all the people that Abba, Ima and Amitz brought back from the other world. She was also getting used to living with the fact that she may have made a mistake and it was part of the reason Abba looked despondent, but trying hard. If not for the sake of the others, for the sake of his daughter.

After Michael betrayed Amitz, she stayed with Abba, his mother and the others in the bunker. She offered to help and help she did. She hunted and she tracked. Eventually, she was able to tell Abba the truth. That she was the one that found the lost grace of Absolution and set it free. She was willing to accept anger, punishment, but it never came.

Hibah was still a young goddess/angel. She had yet to understand fully the world her beloved Ima loved so it struck her odd that Abba had been as forgiving as he was. Still, she wanted to make it up to him and stayed there to help him. He appreciated it and she saw how he appreciated Kesset's wife, took over a more matronly duty, cooking food, cleaning, looking after Jess and her own daughter Ayana. He didn't speak a word, but he appreciated it all the same.

In taking care of the bunker, she tried to help out in other ways. The people from the other world were a bit wary of her and she didn't blame them. She had the powers of a god and the grace of an angel. She was an ultimate taboo and conventional wisdom was virtually unknown regarding her. She did make progress with Jack.

Jack had been going through a tough time. She couldn't really relate since she had never lost her powers, but she knew what it was like to live as a human. She had been raised as one. It was what they bonded over. Along with Bobby, she helped him understand what it meant to live like a human and be human. And for the most part, he was a willing ear to listen, and he was trying since she learned that he had been particularly close to Ima. It was hard though because she, along with Abba and his mother, knew that the vessel for Lucifer was alive and human.

Keeping secrets sucked. There was no better word for it, but she understood the necessity, but that didn't make it any better. Still she promised. It was little and poor comfort that the kept Nick isolated from everyone else. At least she was able to confirm that it was Nick and that his heart was good since she could see into the hearts of men. She just wished it would work like it used to so she could find Ima.

She had been outside the bunker, reaching out with powers trying to find Ima when she sensed Castiel in pain. Ever since her father had been killed for real, the bond between her and Castiel grew stronger. Before now, she would appear and ask how he was doing. She suspected that it was because Gabriel and Castiel shared a brotherly bond that was different from other angels. That and she just wanted to be closer to her father's side of the family.

She didn't care that she startled a few people when she zapped herself to where Abba was and said, "Castiel is in trouble."

At that moment Abba's phone rang. It showed Castiel's number but it wasn't the angel that spoke. Hibah didn't blink when Abba looked at her with a wide eyed look. She didn't flinch since she was well aware that the others in the room, with the exception of Jack and maybe Abba's mother, were nervous about her abilities. She could easily them to back off and be annoyed, but it wouldn't help anyone. Besides, her worry was on Castiel.

In the end, a plan was made and Abba even agreed to let Jack go. Hibah didn't think it was a good idea since she had seen Jack trying to learn to defend himself, taking boxing lessons from Bobby. He was just learning. He wasn't ready for what a demon could do. Still, she respected Abba's decision and went to help Jack grab his gear.

Watching him pack, she said, "Do you know how to handle weapons?"

Jack looked at her and shook his head, "Not very well."

Hibah smiled trying to be positive for his benefit, "Better at throwing a punch, then?"

"I want to help."

"I know."

In the end, it was a long a tense drive. While she could have used her abilities to get there faster, she liked the human mode of transportation. A couple of times on leads for Amitz she went with Abba. It was how she was able to tell him what she did and why. It was one of the few times she cried her apology. It always hurt worse when it hurt Abba, Ima or Amitz. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother and father. It was just that those three raised her from babyhood to nine years of age. That kind of thing didn't go away. She remembered how she cried when she saw Ima cry after letting her go to return to the pantheon to her mother. She could feel Abba's pain when he told his mother to stop saying everything would be fine.

She ended up leaning forward and speaking in Ancient Egyptian, knowing that Abba would understand. She told him, "The seed includes all the possibilities of the tree. The seed will develop these possibilities, however, only if it receives corresponding energies."

She had said the same thing on one of their trips. She had said it in Ancient Egyptian and then translated it for him. It was a gentle rebuke that possibilities were only as good as the focus and energy you gave it. He probably didn't want to hear it, but he did listen.

It was on his mind when he laid out the plan. Hibah didn't like that he was to go in alone, but he wasn't. If there was one thing she liked about hunting, it was the fact that she liked being sneaky about it. That and a good fist fight helped. Abba said she got it from Ima. She liked the idea of being stealthy, but she had to promise not to act until he gave the word.

It was hard to stand by and do nothing. It was doubly hard that she had to watch Jack get caught and sucker punched in the gut. It certainly struck home later when Jack was venting about being useless to Castiel. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she wanted to hear Jack's feelings. Like Abba, sometimes he didn't say much.

Actually, it felt like people didn't want to tell her much. She didn't know if it was because of distrust, or dislike. She could handle the latter. She was considered an abomination and she heard that term at least once a week back in the pantheons from more old fossils of gods who tried to protect the sanctity of purity or whatever nonsense they spouted. The former was something different and it hurt since it seemed that people didn't trust her.

She waited until Castiel left the room before coming back in. She made sure that Castiel saw her coming towards the room with some medical supplies. She put on a cheerful face as she said, "Hey, I brought some stuff for your face."

Jack was nice about it and politely refused her help. In the end she found herself alone, sitting on the landing to the stairs of the entrance to the bunker. She had her legs dangling over the edge as she peered down below. She knew that Abba had others watching the roads and out hunting while reporting back hints of Amitz. She wasn't in fear of being discovered. It wasn't like people noticed.

Sighing, she leaned forward as she watched Abba cross the landing below. He paused to take Jess from Kate and he thanked her before heading to his room. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jess and Abba together and sighed gently and a bit sad. She watched others move below, but didn't say or do anything that would betray her position.

Hibah knew that she didn't quite belong. Even Castiel, who was an angel and the people from the other world had every right to not like him, belonged. Abba would never tell her that, but she knew that he was trying to come to terms with what she had done. She also knew that Winchesters held grudges and it wasn't pleasant if you the target of one.

She was neither god nor angel. All she truly knew what she was not. Sometimes, she wished she could get rid of her powers and live as a human. Those were happier times. Now, it was like people didn't know what to do with her. Not even her mother back home knew what to do at times. It was a lonely world to be in.

She didn't fit in with other halflings either. It baffled her that there was strife and petty jealousies even among those that were ostracized in the first place. She didn't understand it. As much as she wanted to be herself, she knew she couldn't. It was complicated and it sucked.

A chirrup caught her attention and she looked up to see a hawk perched on the railing looking at her. She grinned as she extended her arm and gently stroked its chest. Another reason why people thought she was strange. She had a hawk, a Levant sparrow hawk, given to her by Kesset, his shifted appearance.

Nebit accompanied her everywhere and when she decided to stay at the bunker, she made a few arrangements so the bird of prey could come and go as she pleased. Hibah stroked the hawk's chest as she continued to watch. It had her wonder if Ima ever felt like this, like she was just passing through time, watching people go on about their lives, working with them but never really a part of it. It sounded like nonsense since Abba thought the world of Ima; they loved each other, enough that they had a daughter.

It was puzzling to Hibah and she wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to be able to make the difference that Ima did. As a goddess she was bound by certain rules, but she did want to learn and understand the humans that her Ima loved and she wanted to make things right by finding the woman that raised her and reuniting her with her family. It was something she tried to figure out how to do every night sitting there. For now, the best she could do was to live amongst the humans and maybe one day she wouldn't be such a stranger anymore.

A/N: Hibah has joined in the search for Dean and Angela but she's not really a part of the team. Tag to A Stranger in a Strange Land.