Description: Esmerel Wiloughby, born of sin and grace, is wanted by both Heaven and Hell. Which side is she to choose? She suffers both love and loss as she teams up with the Winchesters and their feathery friend, Castiel. With the three men at her side they fight to protect her from the clutches of both Heaven and Hell, but she's slowly deteriorating. Will the boys be able to save her, or will she be lost to them like so many friends before?

Esmerel hated missing class. She absolutely, positively, with out a doubt hated it. She didn't absorb as much information from the notes as she did a lecture, but it couldn't be helped this time. She was on her fourth no call no show, unintentionally. She had slept through her alarm once again only to wake when she had troubles breathing. Something was wrong. She wasn't depressed, anxious, or stressed she just felt weak. Something was different, something was wrong and she didn't know what. The unknown problem had left her partially conscious when she heard a firm knock on the door of her efficiency apartment at 2:20 in the afternoon. Her voice cracked as she spoke weakly.

"Come in,"

...

Dean had been comatose for about a week since the creature had attacked him. Sam had been skimming every book in Bobby's library to find some semblance of a clue. The problem was without Dean awake to describe the creature they had nothing to go on. Castiel had tried to wake the eldest Winchester on more than one occasion but to no avail. That terrified Sam. What creature of sorts could be so powerful that even Castiel, an angel, couldn't dilute the effects? Part of him didn't want to know and the other part wanted to kill the bastard for getting the upper hand on his brother so badly.

"I've got something!" Sam said. He turned his laptop around to show Castiel. Castiel rose a confused eyebrow.

"A University?" He questioned. Sam nodded.

"This was the last place Dean was, according to the GPS on his cellphone, before you found him." Castiel shrugged.

"Worth a shot." The two headed out the door and to the impala. They started their drive from South Dakota to the University of North Dakota.

When the two men arrived at the University every staff member they questioned said the same thing- everything was normal. Except for one. Mr. Catalano, an art Professor, shook his head.

"The only thing that's out of the ordinary is Esme," he said.

"Esme?" Sam inquired.

"Esmerel Wiloughby, she's an exceptionally talented student. She's never missed a day of class in her life, until this week. She's been no call no show almost every day this week." Sam nodded.

"You wouldn't happen to have an address for Miss Wiloughby, would you?" Sam inquired. Mr. Catalano nodded yes and scrawled the address on a sticky note.

"Do tell her she's missed! I've been waiting to see her latest project!" Mr. Catalano said with an odd expression. Sam nodded his thanks and they were off to the address.

It was about an hours drive to a smaller town. Sam pulled up in front of the apartment complex at 2:16 in the afternoon.

"This is it?" Castiel asked.

"Yea,"

"It looks normal." Castiel said, but what did Castiel know about normal? Sam had to agree with him this time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The two men exited the car and walked up the side walk. The found the door labeled 6 and Sam gave a firm knock. From the other side the two heard a faint, "Come in."

Sam entered with Castiel following behind him.

"Esmerel Wiloughby?" He asked before laying his eyes upon the barely conscious blonde. Her green eyes were hazy and her skin a greenish yellow in color. If he didn't know any better he'd have guessed she was a zombie, but he did know better.

"Yes," Esmerel answered weakly. She coughed and a bit of blood trickled down her lip.

"Miss Wiloughby my name is Samuel Jenkins and this is my partner Castiel- Cas, do you smell that?" Castiel nodded in response. Only one thing had that kind of odor.

"If you're talking about me, Moose, I'll thank you to remember I didn't choose this smell." Sam's jaw clenched as he rolled his eyes.

"Crowley, I should have known this was one of your tricks." Crowley walked up next to the Winchester.

"No trick, Moose, just doing a bit of shopping and you happen to be in the same store." Sam gave him a curious look.

"The girl," Castiel clarified. "What's so special about her that you want her?"

"Nothing really," Crowley lied, "but I must say I thought a being of her stature would have been much more- attractive." He settled on the last word as if he'd been selecting it carefully. "Either way, I've wasted too much time on you fools, I best take her and be off." Castiel stepped between Crowley and Esmerel.

"You're not taking her." He challenged.

"No? He is." Crowley pointed to the Demon reaching out for Esmerel. Sam threw the dagger piercing the demon's skull. "Damn it Sam, that was my favorite of my henchmen." Sam shrugged.

"Should have thought of that sooner." He said. Crowley disappeared and reappeared only inches from Esmerel.

"Nonsense," Crowley said. He reached out to grab Esmerel's unconscious form but her hand flew up and touched his face. Her eyes went white like Castiel's when he's hopped up on 'angel juice' as Dean claims. Crowley howled in pain and yanked her hand from his face. He was gone. Esmerel's eyes returned to their hazy green state and she passed out.

Sam looked at Castiel.

Castiel looked at Sam.

Castiel picked up Esmerel and the two men booked it to the Impala. Castiel sat in the back holding Esmerel while Sam drove back to Bobby's. Castiel stared at the unconscious blonde in his arms. He whispered,

"What are you?"

Hey my lovelies, so this is my first Supernatural fanfiction. I'm two and a half seasons behind in the show but otherwise I'm pretty well educated when it comes down to it. This isn't set in any particular season, just floating about. This story was floating around in my head for months before I finally sat down and started writing in my notebook and then typing it. So there's a lot more to come.

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Thanks,

Love Bear