this has been taken from my other Supernatural story, "Small World", and serves as its Epilogue. i merely submitted it as a oneshot because it can be seen as such as well.

for those who haven't read Small World, Aubrey is what one would call a Phoenix; a soul who dies (only of normal means) and is reborn anew in a different, but original, body.

in this epilogue, she is struggling with the decision on whether to take her Power as a Phoenix back or not. (this Power was stolen by the archangel Gabriel he met her as a child. he placed it in a small vial. in Small World, they meet again and Aubrey gets the Power back... just read it, will you?)

for any questions, feel free to write one in the reviews :)

I DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS; ONLY MY OC, AUBREY MILLIGAN.

CASTIEL

8:14 pm

They took Aubrey to what Dean called a "bar" and bought drinks. To the angel's dismay, the girl didn't talk as much as he hoped. She drank her mug of beer quietly, only occasionally looking up to throw him a small smile. Castiel didn't return them.

He thought about what Gabriel told him, about her making the right choice or not. Honestly, Castiel wasn't sure he could put her down if she ever decided to drink the vial's contents. Why did he have to? The girl was innocent. As far as the angel knew, she wasn't going to turn into that kind of Phoenix that wanted to hurt people.

After about half an hour of silence and awkwardly short conversations, Aubrey finally spoke up.

Castiel watched as she put her mug down on the table and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "How's about we play a few rounds of Never Have I Ever?"

Dean laughed loudly beside Castiel. "I thought she'd never ask," he muttered, clapping him on the back as the girl had a quick conversation with the bartender. Soon enough, they had "shots glasses" placed in front of them with a bottle of whiskey on the side.

Sam poured the alcohol into their glasses up to the rim. The angel looked at Dean curiously. "I am unfamiliar with this game."

The older brother sighed, didn't answer his question, and turned his gaze to Aubrey who sat across from him. The girl grabbed her shots glass and stood up. "Alright then." She and Dean exchanged seats, and almost immediately she said something Castiel barely understood.

"Never have I ever gone to a brothel." She grinned, and the angel watched in fascination as the Winchester brothers picked up their shots glasses and downed their whiskey at the same time.

Dean looked at him, still making a sour face. "Hey, drink up, hotshot. I brought you to one before, remember?"

Castiel, though very much confused, downed the whiskey in his glass as well without exertion. He looked at Aubrey with furrowed brows. "I don't understand," he said. "You said you have never gone to a brothel, and yet Sam and Dean obviously have and they have to drink?"

"You drank too!" Dean cut in, making his brother chuckle.

The angel kept his gaze on Aubrey, still confused. The girl smiled and leaned closer to him, so close that Castiel could smell her breath. "Exactly," she said. "I said that I've never gone to a brothel, and I never have. But the people who have, Sam and Dean, have to drink. Come on, you give it a go." The angel was fully aware of the girl pointing a look at Sam and Dean, but he tried to ignore, instead thinking about what he was about to say.

"Never have I ever… prayed to the Lord for guidance."

The brothers laughed, and so did Aubrey, before downing another shot of whiskey. The girl looked expectantly at him. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Haven't you ever prayed to the Lord for guidance before?"

Castiel thought about it for a second, before understanding what she was trying to say. He downed his shot and Aubrey clapped, laughing. "He's got it!"

The next half hour ensued with quirky remarks and shots of whiskey.

"Never have I ever had sex."

"Never have I ever died." Sam and Dean had clinked their glasses together before downing the whiskey at the same time.

"Never have I ever gone streaking." Castiel was unfamiliar with the last word, but he watched as Dean smirked, downing another shot.

"Never have I ever seen a person die." All of them drank.

"Never have I ever killed a witch."

"Never have I ever been chased by a hellhound."

"Never have I ever beaten someone up."

"Never have I ever rebelled against heaven." Castiel was the only one who drank, and it was only his fourth shot.

The girl laughed as he drank, saying, "Cas, you're supposed to mention things that other people have done, not the things you have." She looked as if she was supposed to say more but Dean shared with her a knowing look, and she smirked. "On second thought, keep doing what you're doing."

9:30 pm

Though Aubrey disapproved, and she was as drunk as any of them—except for Castiel, who was only "starting to feel something"—Dean thought it a good idea to bring them to a brothel. Castiel didn't want to as well, remembering what happened the last time the brother had tried to get him to sleep with a woman.

"Oh, come on!" Dean complained in a slurred tone. "We're buzzed, it's late—okay, it's not that late, but it'll be fun! Sam, hey, what'dya say?" He clapped his brother on the shoulder, raising his eyebrows.

Sam rocked on his feet. "I don't know, man… okay sure let's go."

The brothers walked through the doors, leaving Castiel with Aubrey. She laughed drunkenly. "Okay, hey, I am not going in there."

The angel stared at her questioningly. "Where will you be?"

"Waiting for you to screw up your chances of ever getting laid." She grinned, pushing him up the steps and through the door, but she did not follow. In an instant, the angel was surrounded by barely-dressed women. They touched his face and ran their hands down his chest, making him very uncomfortable.

One, dressed in a tight black outfit, pulled him deeper into the building. Castiel thought he could hear laughter echoing outside as he was led into a room with no one else in it.

Castiel wasn't enjoying himself very much. He took Dean's advice about saying nothing, but he didn't know what to do. His arms were limp by his sides, his legs were rigid, and his eyes looked everywhere but to the girl undressing herself.

He didn't know how he had gotten himself into such a big mess. He shouldn't have let Aubrey push him into the brothel. Parts of Castiel's Grace had already faded away. He wanted to keep his chastity in check for all intents and purposes, though it was hard sometimes.

Like when the girl Aubrey stood so close to him that their elbows brushed together with even the slightest movement; or when she had taken her jacket off in front of him, revealing more skin than the angel was used to; or that one time he was standing right behind her and she turned around and their noses brushed past the other's.

Without really meaning to, Castiel said something to the girl undressing him, something about her mother. The girl slapped him, yelled some very unpleasant things pointed at the angel, and left.

Much to the angel's surprise, he craned his neck to find Aubrey holding the door open, amusement glinting in her eyes.

"Told you," she said.

10:13 pm

Afterwards, Aubrey had all but pulled the Winchesters out of their respective rooms, one hand over her eyes as she did so. Castiel watched from the door, averting his eyes as he saw Dean was naked. Aubrey laughed, still covering her eyes, and exited the room, still laughing. Luckily, Sam was still very much dressed when they barged into his room.

And although the women in their charge weren't very happy about it, Aubrey told the boys to get dressed. "We have to go before the lights upstairs go out," she had said, winking at Castiel before disappearing out the door of the brothel. He cast Dean and Sam questioning looks, but they shrugged as well.

They found the girl waiting by the car, leaning by the door, an impatient look on her face. "Well, come on! Hurry up!" She had bounded up to them and whispered something in Dean's ear.

"You're just full of bright ideas, you know that?" Dean laughed before getting in the car.

They drove for approximately two hours, the only sound in the car the loud music Dean found comforting. Castiel sat in the backseat with the girl, a respectable distance between them; though every time he turned to look at her, he would find the moonlight bouncing perfectly off her hair.

The light shone on her face. Castiel thought she was beautiful.

12:05 am

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we doing?"

Dean rolled his eyes, taking a quick glance at the angel before laying his head back down. "Enjoying the view."

They were sitting on the hood of the Impala. Dean was lying back on the windshield, his hands behind his head. Castiel supposed that it gave him a better view of the artwork above their heads; a beautiful landscape of glittering stars was spread overhead, the dark blue heavenly oceans stretching for as far as the eye could see.

The angel had once heard someone, just a random person he had come across, say that the stars were really holes in the floor of heaven. Of course, that was preposterous. Castiel was brought to life in heaven and he surely didn't remember any holes on the floor.

But he had to say, the person who said that had a very fascinating imagination.

For the night sky did indeed look like dark floorboards, the tiles bleached black. But the night did deceive human eyes sometimes. In his vessel, Castiel could look at anything using either the mortal eyes he had asked for, or the angelic vision he was born with.

During that time, he decided to look at the sky with mortal eyes, and the results were undeniably stunning.

It wasn't the first time Castiel had stared up at the sky. In fact, he did so more times than anyone. Every night, he would look up at the stars and ponder on what could have been happening up high, behind the dark blue sheet of the night.

The angel noticed a movement beside him, and craned his neck to find Sam taking out a bottle of beer from their cooler. During the long drive, Aubrey had given each of them—herself included—pills to get back their sobriety. Apparently it had worked, but Castiel noticed that the Winchesters could never sit still in one place without a bottle of beer in their hands.

Sam threw another bottle to Dean, who snatched it out of the air. Castiel watched him as he drank before looking to the undergrowth in front of them. As soon as they had found the spot and parked the car, Aubrey had walked swiftly away from them without a word. The brothers had made no move to follow her, and so Castiel didn't as well.

He figured that she needed time to think. The angel noticed that the vial of her Power was still in her pocket. She had fiddled with it as she stepped out of the car.

Now they were only waiting patiently for her to come back.

Although, Castiel knew that all of them were watching. Behind the trees and the bushes and the foliage, they could barely make out the girl's silhouette. During the first few minutes, the three of them stared at her worriedly before realizing that she wasn't going to walk back to them for quite a while. The boys had settled themselves down on the car, and Castiel, though hesitantly, followed suit. Neither of them knew why she was so dejected except Castiel, and though the boys pushed him to tell them what happened while they were gone, he never said.

It wasn't his story to tell.

After a while, he heard Sam sigh. "Maybe you should go talk to her," he said, and Castiel faced him.

"I don't think I should."

"Why?"

Castiel's eyes flitted from Sam to the shadow behind the trees, not even too far off. "Because from what I've learned about humans…" He sighed, "Is that they tend to be very quiet when they mean to be."

Dean shifted beside him. "Are you trying to say something?"

"No, I'm just… I might upset her."

The older brother scoffed. "Since when did you care about upsetting somebody?"

The angel was silent for a moment, staring up at the stars, thinking. "I suppose you're right," he finally said, and after a while added, "She needs help in making that decision," even though neither of the boys would understand.

Castiel slid off the hood of the car, his feet touching the ground with a crisp crunch. Without looking back, he put slipped his hands into his coat's pockets and bound towards the girl.

He found her standing in front of a puddle, staring down at the murky water. Not much to the angel's surprise, he saw her reflection depicting the girl in her Phoenix form. Castiel remembered, then, how astonished he had been when the Father first created the Phoenixes. He had unquestionably thought they were as majestic as the sun.

Aubrey barely moved a muscle when he came to stand beside her, but she knew he was there. "So," she said, still not looking up. "A Phoenix, huh?"

He frowned. "It would appear so." Castiel found himself staring at the puddle as well, unable to tear his eyes away. When he was finally able to, however, he looked to find the serious expression on the girl's face somewhat softened.

"The first time we met… the first time you met me, anyway, Aubrey-me…" She gulped. "Did you know what I was? Were you able to sense what I was?"

"No… and I find that extremely distressing." Castiel's frown deepened, remembering how confused he had been. Her face wasn't familiar, yet the aura surrounding her was, but for some reason, he hadn't been able to read into the girl's past.

Aubrey scoffed, meeting his gaze. "I guess rebelling against heaven can really do something to a guy, huh?" He didn't know why, but Castiel smiled.

"It has weakened me very much."

He could feel the girl's eyes on him, and cast a sidelong glance. She had a sad look in her eyes, a deep crease on her forehead as she frowned at him. "Sorry," she grumbled, looking away.

Castiel was wondering what he had said to upset her when something flew past overhead. The angel sensed that it was a… shooting star, as the humans called it. The girl beside him touched his arm, a slight smile spreading across her face. "Make a wish."

Castiel wished for the very first thing that came to mind, considering their circumstances. Peace in heaven and on earth. When he opened his eyes again, he found Aubrey staring up at the night sky.

"And so it was written that the fiery one would be born of heaven and would fall. She would live amongst all of God's creation, dying and rising from her ashes, forced to live another lifetime again and again and again. Never dying, she would be infinite." Her voice broke at the last word, and an irritating ache erupted from the angel's chest. The feeling was quite new to him. He tried ignoring it.

"That's not a quote from the bible," Castiel stated, knowing it for a fact.

The girl shrugged. "Just made it up."

"… It's a good line."

"I have my moments," she said, smiling up at him. Her eyes sparkled just as beautifully as the stars above them, and it was another one of those moments in which Castiel didn't know what to do.

Aubrey was the one who broke the silence. "We should probably head back," she said, looking away from Castiel. He said nothing, not tearing his eyes away from her.

That was when she kissed him.

It took the angel by surprise. Her lips were soft and warm, and a kiss was not at all what Castiel expected it to be. He had imagined kisses as wet and wild and passionate. Part of him suspected that kisses were only like that with people like Dean. Aubrey's kiss was gentle, and light, and didn't last for more than five seconds.

When she pulled away, Castiel said nothing. He only looked at her with furrowed brows. He didn't know if it was because he was in shock, or he was confused, or maybe both.

But the girl was smiling, her eyes closed as she hummed something lightly to herself and Castiel was only able to make out the last few words: "… with the lips of an angel…" She opened her eyes, and Castiel thought that there was no other living creature in the universe that could have told him that her eyes weren't beautiful.

He felt her breath on his lips when she said, "I'm sorry. I needed to do that."

Again, the angel said nothing. She was still smiling when she turned away from him and started walking back to the car.

Castiel trailed behind her. It was odd that he found his legs couldn't quite carry him. By the time he broke past the foliage, Aubrey already had her bags slung across her shoulders. She gave Sam and Dean quick hugs, quick farewells, and when she came up to him again, he stilled.

Aubrey brought her hand to the angel's jaw, and Castiel closed his eyes when she kissed his cheek. Then she turned around and walked away. Although she said nothing to him as a farewell, the words were hidden in her eyes, and only the angel saw what she wanted to say; for sometimes, words would not be able to express raw and unabashed emotion.

"I'll see you guys again!" she called, now a respectable distance from the Impala and the clearing. "You hear me?"

"We hear you!" Dean replied. "Stay alive until then, yeah?"

"You got it!"

When the girl disappeared from view, Castiel didn't know what to do. So, he asked, "How is she going to get back to her car?"

"She'll find a way." Dean beamed at him, and the not-so-innocent-anymore-angel sent a small smile back, the kiss still lingering upon his lips.

Castiel had never understood why humans kept putting their lips together. Sam and Dean always told him that it was an act of love; so was hugging, and "cuddling"; and during that rare moment, Castiel wondered if the girl loved him.

8:14 pm – Castiel was the recipient of Patience.

9:30 pm – Castiel watched the freedom of Will at work.

10:13 pm – Castiel stared upon Beauty.

12:05 am – Castiel experienced Gentleness.

reviews are greatly appreciated! :) :) :)