AN: Thank you to everyone who read, favorited or followed this story. The first chapter was a little short and slow, but hopefully this chapter gets things moving. Special thanks to sjwmaw and DearHart for their kind reviews.

Sam stood and watched the unknown monster slowly turn to ash. Dean had settled down on a nearby log, seemingly happy to watch the fire burn. But Sam, despite being tired, felt restless and in a strangely contemplative mood. There was a time when disposing of a corpse, even a monsterous one, used to bother him. Hunting, no matter how necessary, seemed to consist of little more than risk and danger, blood and loss. Even a successful hunt usually ended in death. Dean would say that as long as it was the monster that died and not them, then it was cause to celebrate. Still, there had been a time when Sam had longed to get away from all the violence and suffering, when death in general was something he had difficulty celebrating. That was a big part of why he chose to team up with the Men of Letters. Yes, they were pompous and arrogant. And he had certainly not forgotten what Lady Bevell had done to him. But he'd learned long ago that he could ignore the horrible things that had happened to him if he could focus on something else, especially the greater good.

The Men of Letters had a plan, a big picture that made the concept of a world without monsters a possibility. Sam wasn't foolish enough to think that eradicating monsters was going to be simple, and it sure wasn't going to erase all the hell he had lived through or make up for all the horrible things that had happened in his and Dean's lives. But, it was the idea that he could be part of the solution that drove him to tolerate working with them. His dream was that no other kid would have to suffer what he and Dean had suffered. Sam had failed once in making a difference when he could have closed the gates of Hell. This time, with the might of the Men of Letters on their side, maybe it could be different.

A light bump to his shoulder broke Sam out of his train of thought. Dean had left his perch and stood next to him. The fire had burned down while he'd been thinking, and there was nothing but a soft pile of smoldering ash to show that the chimera-like monster had ever existed.

"You good, Sam?" Dean asked again, looking into his face with a familiar worried look. Sam had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Dean always got worried when he felt Sam was thinking too much. Most of the time it was just annoying, but sometimes it was just what he needed to keep from going crazy.

"Yeah, I'm good," he answered Dean somewhat truthfully.

"Great! Than less thinking, more shoveling, ," his brother answered, pushing a shovel into his hands with a grin. Together they quickly turned over the earth, putting out the embers and burying the ashes. Once all evidence of the monster was gone, Sam wiped his dirty hands on his denim covered thighs and Dean slapped him on the shoulder.

"Let's go home," was all Dean said, but somehow the words made Sam smile.

xxxxxxx

Cas walked next to Mary through the shadowy forest. His companion held a low flashlight that bobbed across the ground in front of them, illuminating their path. The moon had come out from behind the clouds, and stars were twinkling above, but beneath the trees it was very dark. He watched Sam and Dean as they walked a few feet ahead. The brothers never seemed to be aware of how often they did it, but they were walking in perfect sync, arms and legs moving at the same speed, despite their difference in height. Logically Cas knew it was a side effect of their close upbringing, although he often wondered if it was also an aspect of his Father's involvement in their lives. Dean told him that God had once described him and Sam as a firewall between good and evil. Perhaps it had been his Father's will that the brothers were so close. It may have been the only compensation Chuck had chosen to give the two of them in their dangerous and dark lives. Regardless, Cas felt awed and grateful to be called family by these amazing men. A glance to his right reminded Cas that he had even more for which to be grateful.

It had only been about a month since he had been stabbed with the Lance of Michael by Ramiel. The memory of that terror and agony was tempered only by the remembrance of the affection and care the Winchesters had shown him. Mary had saved him from the final blow, then taken him to that barn and tried to care for his wound. Sam and Dean had called him family and stayed, risking their lives to protect and comfort him. They had stood against a Prince of Hell for him. He knew he was unworthy of that devotion, but he would forever be grateful. The Winchesters had taught him how to love and he was glad that, in what he thought were going to be his final moments, he had told them how he felt about them.

Cas was so lost in thought that he almost didn't respond in time when Mary stumbled over a tree root. He was able to grab her uninjured arm at the last second to keep her from falling.

"Sorry. Thanks, I'm okay now." She regained her balance and smiled at him, but the warm expression was short lived. "Wait, didn't we already pass that rock?" Mary pointed at an uneven moss covered boulder that jutted out from the ground like the prow of a ship breaking through a wave. Cas looked carefully at the rock, but honestly couldn't be sure. Ahead of them, Sam and Dean noticed that they had stopped and came back towards them, their flashlights breaking up the darkness.

"Hey, everything okay?," Sam asked while Dean probed the surrounding trees with his light.

"I'm pretty sure we've passed that rock before." Mary gestured towards the boulder and the brothers turned to look, matching frowns on their faces. Dean took a step closer to examine the jagged rock, but Sam slipped a compass out of his jacket pocket. The four stood in the darkness of the trees while Sam studied the small device.

"This makes no sense," he muttered half to himself.

"What doesn't?," said Dean, leaning over to see the compass for himself.

"The needle isn't moving." Sam tapped the compass gently with a free finger, but was obviously unhappy with the results. He passed the device to Dean who also tapped it and swung his arm in a wide arc.

"What the hell could do that," Dean asked, tension in his voice. Cas was well aware that Dean didn't like the unexpected. That's when he realized that he had news of his own to share.

"Dean, I'm sensing something. Something strong..." All eyes snapped to Cas' face as he struggled to find words to describe what he could feel. There was a being, radiating powerful energy somewhere nearby, of that he was sure, but it was unlike anything he'd felt before. All three Winchesters had instinctively moved into a tight circle, back to back. They scanned the trees, but one by one their flashlights winked out leaving the four hunters in the pitch-black.

"Cas, what's going on?," Sam whispered urgently. Before Cas could answer a tiny ball of light drifted through the forest to where the four hunters stood. Dean's gun appeared in his hand even as he and Sam spread out slightly to flank the small group. Mary too pulled out a knife and dropped into a fighting stance, but Cas merely took a step forward and peered into the blazing ball. There was something about this unnatural light that puzzled him. He could sense that this was a being that was extremely old. The light almost sizzled with an immense energy, dangerous, but without a feeling of malevolence. It felt familiar somehow, even though he knew he'd never seen anything like it before. Mary tugged on his sleeve.

"Careful," she cautioned. Cas was about to relay what he had sensed when the light intensified. The green glow flared brightly and expanded. His human family was forced to shield their eyes so they didn't see the form that materialized within the blaze. After a few seconds the shining dimmed and a woman was standing there. Her eyes were the last to change from a luminescent green that slowly faded to a normal human colour. She smiled at the small group of hunters as the Winchesters stared back, still armed and on alert. With a gesture, she motioned for them to follow and turned to gracefully glide back into the surrounding trees. A kind of residue was left shimmering in the air marking her path through the darkness.

Dean lowered his gun slightly, stunned at the appearance of the woman. She had an otherworldly beauty that was obviously not human. He felt oddly drawn to the strange creature and that made him uncomfortable.

"What the hell was that?" He shot Sam a look. His brother had curiosity all over his face as he stared after the woman. It took a moment for Sam to answer. He shrugged with a frown.

"No idea. Cas?" All eyes turned towards the angel, the only one of their group who didn't have a weapon ready.

"I'm not sure, but I don't sense any danger. She wants us to follow her." And with that Cas strode confidently into the trees following the strange shimmer. Dean made an abortive grab at his coat, but Cas was too quick. Sam gave him a wan smile and his mother sighed and sheathed her knife.

"C'mon, I guess we better make sure he doesn't get into trouble." With a quick glance at them, Mom cautiously made her way towards where Cas had disappeared into the forest.

"Son of a bitch," Dean said softly under his breath. He nodded that Sam should follow Mom and then he brought up the rear. This had bad idea written all over it. Over the years, he and Sam had come across benevolent monsters before, but Dean wasn't going to drop his guard just on Cas' say so.

A shimmering light, like glitter tossed into the wind, marked the path that the woman had taken. It provided minimal illumination, just enough that they could avoid banging into tree branches in the dark. Dean tried turning on his flashlight, but whatever the woman had done, it still wasn't working. With Sam's broad back in front of him, Dean couldn't really see where they were going. After a few minutes of walking he followed Sam into an open clearing.

Although there was nothing around but trees. Their leaves were almost fully developed despite it being early in the Spring. Dean noted that the clearing was a perfect circle, as if man-made. There was a massive oak tree directly across the circle, it's leaves rustling softly. The moonlight seemed exceptionally bright here, especially after the darkness in the forest and the air shimmered slightly like the path they had followed. The glowing woman wore a sleeveless dress of some kind of gauzy fabric in shades of green and brown. She stood barefoot and motionless in the exact middle of the open glade as if she had been waiting on them for a long time. Cas and Mom stood a few feet away and he and Sam joined them. Dean stowed his gun. A feeling of ancient calm seemed to engulf the glade, but it did little to make Dean feel comfortable. The mysterious woman began to speak.