The patter of rain drops woke me from a deep slumber that I was in desperate need of, leaving me to feel disappointed. The sound of my oldest brother's engine shutting off stirred me from my vivid dreams of something far more pleasant than my actual real life. Sam and Dean, who were in the front, were wearing their black suits and picking through their fake IDs to pose as the FBI to talk to a local in Oregon over some mysterious disappearances.

"We're here already?" I asked with a yawn as I sat up in the backseat. "What time is it?"

"Look who's finally awake!" Dean announced as he turned to look back at me. "It's one, kiddo. We'll be back in a bit. Just keep an eye out for anything odd, alright?"

I frowned at him as I stared at the boys in their suits.

"Why can't I do this? I'm twenty-one."

Dean rolled his eyes while Sam gave me a sympathetic look.

"Alex, we've been over this. You look too young," Dean said in an irritated voice.

Someone needs to sleep.

Or in Dean's case, get laid.

"Sammy posed at twenty-two!"

"It was risky back then, but you know we didn't have much choice, Lex," said Sam.

He reached back and placed his hand on my head - something he did as far back as I could remember.

"We'll be fast. Promise." He smiled at me, his dimples standing out with his white teeth, before getting out of the car with Dean following him.

I stared out the window at them, watching them hurry to the front door of an old Tudor-style house. I let out an irritated sigh, fogging up my window, and crossed my arms over my chest.

Brothers...

Sam and Dean were my adopted brothers; at the tender age of three, John Winchester adopted me after I was found in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. While my brothers were a far deal older than me, we were still very close, and Dean was overprotective... especially since I was the girl.

"Nothing's ever going to happen to my baby sister," he'd always say with promise in his green eyes.

Mile after mile of traveling in the '67 Impala, seeing things that would continuously scar me and give me the ugliest of nightmares, my life ended up being a bit better than the other possibility. I only knew the life of lying about who I was, and what exactly our family business was.

Out of all the years, I was the one who was left out of the actual hunting until Sammy went to college. I did spend a good deal of time with Bobby, where he would work on training me how to handle guns, and would let me just do normal childhood stuff that my brothers missed out on. Dean showed up to collect me after the massive fight between Dad and Sammy, and began to train me how to fight every nasty thing that came along. It was tough, but hey - I could take on a man a foot taller than me who weighed twice as much as I, so that was pretty cool.

My irritation disappointed as I heard the flapping of angel wings and felt a pleasantly warm breeze brush my skin.

"Castiel," I said as my stomach fluttered.

I turned my head and saw the rogue angel stare back at me, his hair disheveled, and bottom lip bleeding.

"Hello, Alex," Cas replied in an exhausted voice. "It seems I've come at a bad time."

"No, not at all. What happened to you?" I motioned toward his cut lip.

"A scuffle with a demon. This is the third one Crowley has sent after me in the past three weeks for no apparent reason. I tried to spare its host, but no such luck." He looked down, seeming to show sadness (which I had long adjusted to compared to when Castiel and I first met, when he had essentially no understanding of human emotions).

"You can't save them all, Cas. Here..." I dug through my bag and pulled out a petty little First Aid kit, which was for minor injuries that were a daily ordeal... and because I was a hypochondriac. "I don't know if this will do much for an angel, but it's the best a filthy mortal like me can do."

I smiled weakly at him, only to have him stare into my hazel eyes with intensity.

"You are not filthy," he said as I soaked a cotton ball in some water to clean his wound.

There was a pregnant pause while I cleaned his bottom lip, which slowly healed on its own.

Angels... How nice it'd be to be able to heal like that! Or even heal Dean and Sammy that quickly. I hate being essentially the primary medic in the family.

"You actually have one of the purist souls I have seen," Castiel said, his deep voice vibrating into my finger tips.

I pulled back from him and stared. His cut was clean - in fact, it was healed - and his energy seemed to scream more serious than average.

When Castiel and I first met, we didn't hit it off immediately. After a deal of time passed, he and I grew closer, and began to share a rather odd bond. Of course, I was attracted to him - his vessel was a handsome man, and Castiel was just a beautiful being. While he would appear while my brothers were around, it was more often when they were gone when he'd see me. There were times when I felt like he was there, yet he was nowhere in sight...

"Thank you, Castiel," I said quietly as I stared into his beautiful sapphire eyes. "That's one of the nicest things someone has said to me."

"You are welcome, Alex." He reached out and pressed his fingers to my forehead, and I felt my right arm tingle.

My bruise. How could I forget being slammed into a table a couple of days ago? God, I hate witches...

"When I leave, you'll be able to have another more pleasant dream," he said as he removed his fingers. "Though I am intrigued as to why I was in your last dream in the first place."

I felt my face burn. "Ahh... Probably because Dean brought you up. I'm sure you dreamed when you were human."

"I did. You were in a number of mine, and it was rather comforting."

I watched his mouth as he spoke. Despite having such ugly and cold weather, he made everything beautiful and warm. In his presence, I felt like someone wrapped me in a blanket and kept me safe from the monsters in the world.

Oh, Castiel, how I wish I could kiss you...

Stop. This is inappropriate. He's an angel - a celestial being! You have some serious issues.

"Really? So what was I doing in your dreams?" I smiled at him, and relaxed against the back of the seat, scooting a little closer to him.

He appeared to be in deep thought.

"I seem to remember us in a park. It was a good day for you." He stared at me with his typical serious expression. " You have been remembering to take your medication daily, correct?"

"Yes," I said with an eye roll. "Come on - didn't we do anything exciting? An Alice Cooper concert, perhaps?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I do not understand your interest in Alice Cooper."

"I don't understand your lack of interest in Alice Cooper." I smiled at him again, that time earning one in return.

He should smile more. He doesn't need to remain so serious.

"I wish I could see you smile more," I said quietly after his face went back to its resting expression.

"I only wish for you to smile. You don't seem to be doing well - why have you not called for me?"

"I didn't want to bother you," I said nonchalantly. "Besides, Sammy and I have been researching these missing cases here, so I had to stay focused."

"Call on me. I'll be there," he said. "Do not think I don't know about the cuts on your thighs. You must stop, Alexandria."

I looked down at my lap, knowing that the cuts were gone after he healed me, but felt the phantom stings.

"It's not a big deal, Cas."

"It is. I don't want you to harm yourself. You repeatedly getting hurt while hunting is bad enough."

"Cas, I -" I was cut off by him placing his hands on my arms.

"Alexandria, you mustn't harm yourself. I... we... don't want to see you go through another incident like last year. I instructed Sam to monitor your medication. I told you to call on me so you will be safe."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, Cas." I paused for a moment. "Why are your hands on me like this?"

"Isn't this how humans hug?" He gave me a puzzled look.

I snickered. "No. Your arms go around the person."

"My apologies," he replied as he began to slip his arms around my body.

Just before we could properly touch, he said, "Your brothers are coming. I must go. Sleep now."

I heard the flapping of his wings, followed by Sam and Dean getting in the car. I felt myself collapse on the backseat and the rush of cold air wash over me. My eyes were closed, and I was lulling off to sleep.

"Dean, be quiet. She's sleeping," I heard Sammy whisper to Dean.

"Poor kid. This job has been hard on her." I heard the engine start. "Let's get a hotel so she can be in a bed. I'm going to go interview Irene Mason; you hit the books and find out what this symbol means."

I heard paper rustling in the front.

"Of course," was the last thing I heard Sammy say before I drifted off into a deep sleep, accompanied by dreams of Castiel's presence.