Title: Absolution

Author: TigerTiger02

Chapter Title: Butterflies and Hurricanes

Spoilers: pretty much if you haven't seen any of season four you probably shouldn't be reading this since Castiel is featured heavily. Pre-"I Know What You Did Last Summer"…. And considering this has been Kripke'd (although I've been working on it for a good month) I think you all know where this is heading…

Summary: Castiel's retrieves Sam and Dean for a mission from God. Guess they didn't expect it to be an Atomic-Bomb Girl. Shameless Castiel/OC.

Disclaimer: not mine, if it was I would totally take Castiel home as pet, he's just so darn cute!

Dedication: to Nikki, who urged me to post this even though I was sorely tempted not and has been part of the editing process since day one!

Change,
everything you are
and everything you were
your number has been called
fights, battles have begun
revenge will surely come
your hard times are ahead

-"Butterflies and Hurricanes" Muse

Over the next few days Isabella studiously ignored Castiel. She didn't let him near her, she didn't speak to him, and to her he was nothing but wallpaper. Of course he still followed her around like a lost puppy. He still stared at her with intensity she had never known. He still would find ample opportunities to slide his fingers across her lower back or shoulder or wrist. It was getting harder to ignore him when he touched her like that. Still she soldiered onward, ignoring him and pretending that it didn't hurt to not look at him.

It's a brilliant autumn afternoon and she's waiting for Dean or Sam, possibly Eve. It's become a routine, one of them drops by in the afternoon, they eat lunch, and pretend that they're not on edge because Lilith might pop up out of nowhere and "gank" her, as Dean had put it. It was mildly awkward to have Castiel first show up and everyone assume he was her boyfriend, but it got even more awkward when Sam had shown up the next day, toting turkey wraps and mango juice, or something of that sort. It had taken a few minutes for Samantha to calm down and even longer for Isabella to explain that Sam was just a friend from college. Of course the next day when Dean strolled it was when people started gossiping that she was some kind of slut now.

That had been awkward to explain, but she was grateful that it wasn't Castiel coming around anymore. It would just lead to too many questions that she just couldn't answer. Such as the fact that he always wore the same clothing.

"Hey, there's someone up front for you." Leah, a technician, said as she breezed past on her way outside.

"Dean, Sam, or Eve?" Isabella asked. If it were Dean there would probably be something greasy and unhealthy involved and she had been craving something unhealthy all day. Leah stopped and frowned, tapping a brilliant pink fingernail against her chin as she thought.

"Nah, someone new." She said and Isabella frowned.

"Who?"

"I dunno, he has some kind of fruity name, Ariel or some shit." Leah said before she pranced outside with a cigarette in hand. Isabella frowned and flipped open her cell phone. After a few rings Sam picked up.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked and she could hear Eve in the background shouting something about soup.

"There's some guy here, named Ariel?" she said slowly, fear creeping up her spine. She had never heard the name mentioned before but she was worried it was someone she did not want to meet.

"Shit. Uriel is there." Sam called out and she heard Eve curse loudly while there was a great clanging noise.

"Wait, Uriel? As in archangel Uriel? As in one mean motherfucker who wields a flaming sword?" she asked, slightly panicked. Castiel was one angel she could handle (even when he looked at her with sad eyes) but Uriel? He was arch, in the big leagues, and there was no reason why he should be paying her a visit.

"Look I'm pretty sure he won't do anything that could lead to death and Dean will be there soon so-." Sam was abruptly cut off and was replaced by Eve.

"All you need to know is that Uriel cannot harm you, not without direct orders from the Big Guy, and he wouldn't either, you still trump him and he's kind of afraid of you. Or at least he used to be…" Eve's voice faltered slightly, as if she was just remembering how out of the loop she really was in heaven. "Just meet him head on and be direct. And remember Dean will be there soon."

"Okay. Right." Isabella said before snapping the phone closed. She turned around and took an awkward step back. A large, intimidating man stood before her. He was impeccably dressed in a dapper suit and he was not smiling. She looked around and realized that one of the receptionists was scurrying away, a nervous twitch in her walk. It was obvious that he had intimidated her into letting him in back.

"Isabella."

"Uriel." She said, sizing him up like he was sizing her up.

"I just wanted to see if it was true and I guess it is." He said, his voice a low growl. She cocked her head and stared up at him, using a technique she had picked up from Castiel. Just stare and eventually it will cow a person, hopefully.

"What's true?" she finally asked softly still leveling her eyes up at the dark brown gaze of Uriel's.

"That they're bringing you back into the fold. If it were up to me I would have burned you out long ago. Ripped you to pieces, child." His voice is condescending. His eyes are flecked with darkness and her skin creeps uncomfortably around him. She feels on edge around him, and not the good kind like with Castiel.

"And what sins have I committed to earn your resentment? Or is it because Daddy likes me more?" she said, her voice a hard edge. Uriel's face twisted into a snarl and he raised his hand bringing it dangerously close to her face before he freezes. He drops his hand quickly and grits his teeth.

"You're still mostly human, interesting that Castiel has not made his move… maybe its because he's defective. Or maybe its because you're defective." He spat out the last word like it was a rotten piece of apple in his mouth.

"Or maybe it's unnecessary at this moment." She snapped out angrily. Uriel laughed suddenly.

"Oh you humans do amuse me." He said and then chuckled again. Isabella wondered if he was always this bipolar. "You fear it. You know the reasons why you were locked up; you know it was of your own volition. Most of all you know of your brother's sin. You're still scared of falling like he did. I should have sent you below when I had a chance, before there was the opinion that you were harmless. Hardly." He said all mirth fading from his face.

"What's up, Uri." Isabella turned to see Dean approaching from behind, his voice was light and airy, unconcerned with the pissy look on Uriel's face. Dean's face is the opposite of his voice, its guarded and tense.

"Dean. This is none of your business." Uriel's voice is tightly controlled anger and deadly soft. Dean smirks and replies flippantly.

"Yeah well I kind of think it is considering that we were tasked with protecting her."

"A decision that was clearly made in haste." Uriel flung back disdain dripping from his voice.

"Why don't you just go and fuck off?" Dean snarled and Isabella stepped backward as Uriel's face contorted and he raised a hand. "What? You're going to smite me?" Dean said and took a step forward. "I really don't think your boss is going to be too happy with you if you burn me up." Uriel dropped his hand and he leaned forward, getting in Dean's face.

"The moment you stop being of use in this war… I'll be there." He growled and with the faint rustling of clothing (or wings) he was gone. Isabella felt her legs go liquid and she sat heavily on the floor.

"Is he always like that?" she whispered, half-ashamed of her obvious fear.

"Yeah, he's a dick with wings." Dean said half-heartedly before he pulls her up. "Let's get some pie into you." he says softly.

"Pie?" she asks curiously.

"Yeah, pie. It solves everything." Dean said as he slung an arm around her shoulders.


When she leaves work the sun has already set and Dean had long ago left. She's one of the last ones to leave; her fear of Uriel keeps her inside where it's bright and familiar instead of the dark, chilly parking lot. She stills completely when she sees someone leaning casually against her car and she adopts the childish thought of 'as long as I don't move it doesn't see me'. Then she realizes that the person is not tall and broad like Uriel. Instead its Castiel, who stares at her with luminous eyes, a worried look on his face. She glances around the parking lot and sees no one else.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, she's too fucking exhausted to push him away right now.

"I was worried."

"Worried?" she repeats and lights up a cigarette.

"Uriel can be quite frightening when he wishes to be." There's the unspoken comment that Uriel always wants to be frightening.

"Where were you?" she asks and her voice shakes slightly. She's pissed at him, he was supposed to be watching over her, protecting her. She had barely gotten away with being burned out and it was terrifying.

"Keeping my distance as you have indicated you would like me to do." The words come out in a pained tumble and she winces.

"I'm sorry." She manages through her anger and despair. She nearly chokes on the words and the thick emotion in the air. She hates it; with Castiel around she's constantly tapping into the emotions around her. Its been explained that its her Grace doing this, and frankly she thinks Grace is a pain in the ass. If Grace were a person she would totally kick Grace's ass. Instead she settles for turning her eyes back to Castiel's. "So yeah. Sorry for being a bitch and all but its kind of disturbing to find out that my body was never my body in the first place." She coughs awkwardly and shifts to open the car door but Castiel's hand on her shoulder makes her turn and look up.

There's a long moment where he just stares at her and she opens her mouth, intending to say something, anything, even banana hammock but then his lips touch hers softly. It's just the barest brush before he's pulling away, a slight smile on his face. And she caves completely. She dives in headfirst, fingers curling around the lapels of his ugly-ass trench coat as she hauls him down to her mouth. She kisses him hungrily, mouth slanted against his, tongue and teeth and lips crushing, bruising. He responds in kind and the kiss is naked, violent desire. It's the basest of baser needs, animalistic hunger and desperate want, need, take, and have. Fingers claw and grip and grasp, there's a boiling, bubbling something rising up within her, tearing its way to the surface and threatening to destroy everything she is.

Isabella presses herself against him tightly, trapped between the cool, metal of her car, and the impossible warmth of the angel. His fingers on her hips bruise in that achingly pleasant manner, it hurts but it's a good hurt. Her fingers pull and tug and twist on the trench coat and she resists the urge to slide her fingers lower, resists the urge to unbuckle the cheap belt and pop the button of the pressed pants. She resists the urge because she still can't bring herself to make that final step. So instead she rips her mouth from his, gasping and panting, banging her head against the window. The blow seems to clear her head a little bit.

They stare at each other in silence, both fascinated with the sight before them. She takes in Castiel's full lips, chapped and pretty, bruised red. His tousled hair now worse from the brief moment she had threaded her fingers through the inky strands and decided that she really shouldn't be touching his hair because she was liable to tear it out. She takes in his bright eyes, the shifting blues that now had pure silver streaking through them and blatant lust making the rest of the iris darker. He's trembling slightly, the way someone trembles from holding him or herself back. She turns her eyes from his and doesn't speak for a very long moment.

"Wow… that was just…" she trails off, unable to think of a word to describe what just happened.

"Yes." He replies and she lets out a breathless and slightly hysterical laugh.


They don't talk about Uriel's unexpected visit again after a first and very awkward time when they sat down to re-hash what happened. The days pass and it feels like a distant, terrifying dream. They all fall back into their routines. Eve and Isabella go to work and class. Castiel stalks at a distance and brings Isabella lunch. Sam offers to fix the sink and shop for groceries since Dean always seems to eat the last of everything. And Dean… well Dean lazes about and bitches about the lack of jobs in the immediate area.

"When are we going to be able to get back on the road? I'm going stir crazy here!" He asks for the hundredth time. It's been a long day, especially after her Philosophy of Religion class where she had burst out in slightly hysterical laughter when the professor started talking about angels and how benevolent they were (obviously he had never had the displeasure of meeting Uriel). That had been awkward to explain, almost as awkward as when she had fallen asleep and had apparently moaned out Castiel loud enough for the professor to hear from his spot at the podium.

"In a week!" Isabella snaps and Eve laughs from where she's peeling apples for an apple pie. Castiel stares at her with a puzzled look on his face. Isabella observes her happy, little dysfunctional almost family for a moment before dropping down besides Castiel. Automatically his hand falls onto her knee and rests there. Sometimes its just too bizarre to even contemplate the fact that she's in this weird, half-relationship with an friggin' angel, until she remembers that she's technically one. He leaned towards her, eyes still fixed on Eve's motions as he murmured from the corner of his mouth.

"What is she doing with that fruit?" he asked.

"Making apple pie." Isabella explained.

"Apple?" he questioned and Isabella snorted.

"Yeah, you know the supposed forbidden fruit." She said teasingly. But Castiel pales slightly, his eyes widen comically and Isabella finds herself laughing like a loon. "Oh wow…" she mutters and kisses the corner of his mouth. "Its not literally the forbidden fruit, I'm pretty sure your buddy Uriel is supposed to be guarding Eden and that tree."

"Ah… yes… right." Castiel says and then kisses her fully on the mouth. Everything goes fuzzy and she gets wonky-headed, sinking into him completely, immersing herself in him like she always does.


Isabella woke in the morning to a call from work stating that they didn't need her in that day. Eve herself already had a free day. She treaded to her bedroom to find Castiel frowning down at his shirt. She swallowed heavily and tried to ignore the fact that he was shirtless and she wanted to nip at his collarbone.

"What did the shirt do to you?" she asked with a teasing voice.

"It is getting harder to mend it." He said with a scowl.

"Maybe its time we introduce you to the mall… and a new set of wardrobe." She said with a wrinkled nose, eyeing his tax-accountant suit with slight disgust. It wasn't that she hated the suit; it was just that they needed other things like a pair of jeans to showcase his nice ass… and she was drooling a bit.

Before she knew it she was wrapped up in his arms, her mouth working against his and his body pressed against hers. She wondered for a brief moment how she always ended up like this before she lost her head again. It wasn't until she heard Dean bitching to Sam about the air mattress that she remembered that there were other people in the apartment. She dragged her mouth from his and leaned wearily against her dresser. It seemed to her that Castiel had a penchant for pressing her up against objects, trapping her against him.

"So how about you get dressed and I wake up the others." She said in a breathless tone. He nodded and she fled the room before she decided that she had to have one more taste of him.

They ended up taking the Impala and Eve was practically drooling over the car. Dean preened in front of her.

"Yeah I rebuilt her myself after we got T-boned…" he trailed off a hint of sadness in his face before he brightened. "Yeah she's my number one girl." He patted the hood of the car with fondness his hazel eyes brightened with happiness. Isabella watched Eve closely and noted how Eve seemed to melt at the sight of Dean being tender, even if it was with a car. She felt a small smile twitch at the corner of her mouth as she caught Sam's eyes; they looked at each other then Dean and Eve. At the same moment they both came to the same conclusion. With a jerk of his head in their direction Sam raised a questioning eyebrow. Isabella responded with a grin and a nod. It was a time for matchmaking, though neither of them was very good at it they would still try.

"Alright, maybe we should split up and meet in the food court." Dean said.

"Okay, Dean how about you and Eve go do what you need to do and me, Isabella, and Castiel will hit the clothing stores." Sam said with a sly look in Isabella's direction.

"Awesome, I totally did not want to shop for the holy tax accountant look."

"Yeah, is it okay if we stop by Victoria's Secret? You don't mind do you?" Eve asked Dean and his eyes widened as he swallowed heavily.

"No, no problem." He said smoothly.


Isabella scrutinized the blue sweater and held it up against Castiel's chest, she sighed and tossed it over her arm. She had never known how hard it was to shop for a guy who had no sense of style. He picked up a mustard yellow sweater with large horizontal red, blue, and orange stripes across it.

"I like this one, its colorful." She wrinkled her nose in disgust and pulled the sweater from his hands before tossing it on top of the pile of rejects.

"And its says that you stole it from Bert and Ernie's closet, which is a big no-no." she said snarkily. Who knew that shopping for an angel would be so hard? It wasn't that he was picky; the problem was that he liked everything. He would get caught up in the texture of the fabric or the color or even the style. There were many times when Isabella had to take a particularly ugly item and toss it in the reject pile, then Castiel would pout for a few minutes before finding another heinous item of clothing. It was also difficult because neither Sam nor Isabella knew his size, and of course Castiel had no clue either. It wasn't as if either of them could get into the dressing room with him without getting thrown out. It would look bad no matter how they tried to swing it. Finally Sam had decided that Castiel was about Dean's size, though they found that he was a bit thinner and shorter.

"Who are Burt and Ernie?" Castiel asked curiously, still eyeing the hideous sweater.

"Fictional puppet characters on a children's show, not anyone that you want to emulate. I am almost certain that they are a life lesson in tolerance because I'm pretty sure they're gay. Which isn't bad but it just brings up weird thoughts of gay, puppet sex." Isabella said as she held up a dove gray tie against a sapphire colored dress shirt. It would work. She flung them across her arm and turned to Sam. "Is there anything else we forgot? Other then shoes of course. I mean we have pajamas, casual, semi-casual, dress-casual, dress, and formal."

"Uh… wow I never knew there was so many different type of casual…" Sam said while looking dazed. Isabella rolled her eyes.

"Well not everyone can pull off ripped jeans, a random t-shirt, and a plaid flannel over shirt." She said as she eyed Sam's outfit of choice. "Castiel is much more sophisticated than plaid flannel." Castiel was naturally oblivious as his attention shifted from the Sesame Street sweater to a tie that was orange and pink plaid. Without thinking Isabella snatched it from his hands and tossed it onto the reject pile.

"We're missing underwear." Sam said bluntly and Isabella felt the heat of her blush spread across her face.

"Uhm." She managed to get out before she had to swallow back the gathering saliva in her mouth.

"Do you know what he happens to prefer to wear?" Sam asked while ignoring her brilliant colored face.

"Boxers." She squeaked out. "I'm just going to go over there… yeah…" she said while pointing towards a woman's section. Sam laughed and shook his head.


Dean didn't know where to look. There were so many colors and textures and he kept imagining the beautiful but frustrating things on all the women in the store. He thought he was going to die; it was an imaginary sensation overload. And of course Eve was no help, with her wide eyes and smirky smile.

"What do you think of this one?" she chimed from beside him and he turned his eyes to the purple satin and black lace bra. He swallowed heavily, eyes widening and mouth suddenly dry.

"Uh. Yeah. Its nice." Did his voice just crack? Because Dean Winchester's voice should never crack, it hadn't cracked since he was going through puberty. Almost thirty-year-old badass motherfuckers like Dean Winchester did not have their voice crack and squeak like a twelve-year-olds, especially in front of pretty women.

"Great! I'm going to go try it on!" She said happily and flounced away. Dean finally took a deep breath and closed his eyes. In the past half hour they had been to three stores. First Bath and Body Works where Eve had tested just about every fucking scent in the store before decided that she liked, in her words, 'The simple, sweet, clean scent of the Vanilla and the Exotic Coconut.' Then she had gotten some shit called Midnight Pomegranate just because it made her laugh. He was still sneezing a little bit from her constantly shoving a bottle beneath his nose and asking, 'What do you think?' Then there was that awful tea store in which she had examined every tea carefully before buying a couple of bags of loose leaf tea. There had a been a brief stop at a tiny jewelry store where she had picked up a ring of hearts. He thinks of Eve's tiny and slender fingers, the nails painted a light pink and brilliant silver rings adorning them, they're innocent hands but he knows the girl is anything but. He wants to know what Lilith said to tempt her into eating that first apple.

"Dean?" he snapped his eyes open and turned them towards Eve who standing there staring at him.

"Wha-huh?" he managed to get out.

"I asked you if you wanted to go somewhere else, I'm done here."

"Oh yeah sure."

They end up wandering around aimlessly and the mall is fairly empty, after all it's in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. He decides to ask his questions.

"Why'd you do it?" he asks out of the blue. Eve turns wary eyes to him, her expression guarded and shuttered.

"Do what?" she asks airily, playing the ignorant card. It doesn't work. They both know what he's asking about.

"Why did you eat the apple?" he decides to humor her anyway. She sighs and shifts one of the bags, probably buying time.

"Knowledge." She finally breathes out. "I wanted to know so badly, I wanted to know why were there, I wanted to just know. Lilith told me what the tree was. Hell Isabella told me what the tree was. I knew what it was, I knew what it could bring and I knew the fucking consequences." Her voice is slowly rising and she cuts herself off, swearing under her breath, her hands clenching and unclenching into fists.

"And?" Dean prods.

"And I plucked the forbidden fruit from the tree and took the first bite." She said sadly.

"And then you told Adam to take a bite."

"I didn't want to be alone when I was cast out. It was unbearable. It hurt. The knowledge I mean. No person should be shouldered with that." She shuddered slightly and looked like she wished she were anywhere but there. There was a wild look in her eyes. "Father was right to tell us not to eat the fruit. That knowledge was His knowledge, the knowledge of everything that was, is and will be. Do you know how hard it is bear all of that? I wanted to lobotomize myself. I gave Adam the fruit because I knew what was to come, because I wanted someone else to share the burden…" she trailed off and looked away from his eyes. He realized that they hadn't moved from their little spot near KB Toys. He turned his eyes to watch a mother drag her protesting son out of the store. This was what they were trying to save.

"Sorry." He blurted out. "For, you know, bringing up bad memories." Eve quirked her mouth into a quick half-smile.

"Its fine. It's just been awhile since I've talked about it."

"So do you still know all?" he asked. Her face fell slightly and she shook her head.

"I know the past, and I know the present but the future is very… hazy. It's not set or anything, I'm not omniscient anymore. I just have dreams sometimes of the possibilities. Like last night I dreamt of the world, as it would be if Lilith got her hands on Isabella and used her, blood and terror and smoke in the air. Isabella was a mindless drone, Lucifer walked the earth in Sam's body and you were broken."

"And Castiel?"

"Fallen in the worst kind of way… He Fell to be with her, because he loves her that much… because he came to a point where he loved her more than God, which is possible but its not good…" she trailed off and breathed deeply through her nose. "Lets get a Cinnabon." She chirped and skipped over to the stand. Dean stared after in her shock. Eve was probably one woman he would never understand.


In the end they've spent an obscene amount of money on Castiel's new wardrobe, Sam insisted on paying for it all with a credit card that stated his name was Carson Grey. Isabella let him and Castiel frowned the whole time until they were out of the last store.

"That was stealing." He says nonchalantly. Isabella sighs in frustration and Sam looked ashamed.

"Well unless the vessel is one rich man there was no way else we were paying." She explains. "I have money, but there's not going to be steady supply until this is all over and Sam kindly offered. Enough with the lemon face, I'm hungry and I'm betting Eve and Dean are already shoveling Panda Express into their pie holes."

"Nah we got a Cinnabon." Eve said as she came up behind them. "We've been waiting forever, what took so long?"

"Well unlike you we had to actually shop for an entirely new wardrobe." Isabella said caustically. She set down the bags she was carrying, which was only two as Sam had kindly offered to carry the majority. "Do you know how hard it is to shop for an angel? He has no friggin' fashion sense."

"Of course he doesn't. They never do." Eve said as she dug through the various bags. "Oh you got him Chucks? Aren't they a little flimsy for running around constantly?"

"Who cares? Chucks are in; it's Geek Chic. Besides we also got ass-kicking boots, hiking boots, and holy-fuck-run running shoes. And slippers."

"Wow you really went all out, what's this?" Eve held up the Sesame Street sweater and wrinkled her nose. Isabella's eyes went wide and turned around with her hands on her hips.

"How the hell did that get in there?" she hissed out.

"I like it." Castiel stated firmly.

"Its hideous!"

"Sam said I could have it if I wanted it." Castiel said petulantly.

"What the hell, Sam! Its ugly and he's too cute to be wearing something that ugly!" Isabella said angrily.

"Look it might make him blend in more." Sam pointed out. "He puts it on and people stop noticing that there's something off about him and start noticing the ugly ass sweater and stop wondering why he staring at them like a creep and start wondering why his girlfriend let him out of the house like that."

"He has a point." Dean said his eyes slightly glazed as he stared transfixed by the sweater. Isabella huffed and muttered something under her breath.

"Fuck it. I need a smoke." She said while throwing up her hands.


"Shit." Eve said as she hung up the phone. "Apparently my mother is having another one of her episodes where she decides she hates my dad and my dad wants me to come over and spend the night to make sure she doesn't destroy his work room out of spite."

"What did they fight about this time?" Isabella asked. They had just been getting ready to go to bed when Eve's phone had ringed.

"Beats the hell out of me…" Eve muttered and she pulled her overnight bag out of her closet. It was already packed with all of the essentials as Eve had gone through this drill several times before.

"Jeez you're like a boy scout or something. Always prepared."

"Yeah well better safe than sorry." Eve said with a snort. "I'll probably be back by noon tomorrow." She said and minutes later Isabella could hear her saying her goodbyes to Sam and Dean. With a sigh of pleasure at getting the bed to herself Isabella clicked off the bedside lamp and sprawled out happily. Tonight she was going to get a decent night of sleep.

The smoke was thick and heavy in the air and when she inhaled she could smell sulphur that burned down her throat and stung her eyes. The sun tried valiantly to shine through the thick smoke but failed miserably, casting a sickly half-light that flamed red for a moment. Isabella turned her eyes from the sky to the ground and felt her knees go weak. It was a veritable battlefield around her. The ground below her was muddy, not from rain or water, but rather from the blood soaking into the ground. There were bodies strewn about, some were recognizable as human and others… others were so mangled that she couldn't be sure. Her stomach rebelled against her commands and she bent at the waist, dry heaving and gagging for a few minutes before she wiped her mouth.

"Hello?" she yelled. No one answered her call. She turned in a circle and shouted again and again but no avail.

It was on her final turn that she spotted plaid flannel. Her stomach dropped out and she found herself running before she could even think to.

"Sam!" she shouted out as she dropped down beside the prone figure. "So much blood." She moaned out and she searched for a pulse, for the barest flicker of life. There was nothing. Her hands came away bloodied and she resisted the urge to wipe them on her clothing. Where Sam was Dean wouldn't be too far behind. She searched for a moment, a hard knot of tears lodged in her throat and pleaded with her silent father that Dean would be all right but she spotted an outstretched hand and let out a sob. The hand had a single silver ring adorning it, and the wrist had a familiar skull bracelet on it. She stood up and walked with leaden feet to Dean's body. The abdominal and chest cavity was viciously torn open and his face was stark white, blood flecking it generously. His glazed eyes were widened with terror, turned towards… Isabella turned her head away and covered her mouth with shaking hands, stifling the scream that threatened to rip its way out of her mouth.

Eve lay only a few feet from Dean, her already pale skin grey from death. Her hair was matted and bloodied, her face slack and oddly at peace. It seemed that her death had been quick and merciful. Isabella wondered who had killed her, and the morbid thought distracted her from the fact that her best friend was dead, at least for a moment. It looked like she had just gone to sleep right there on the battlefield, and if it wasn't for the fact that they were on a battlefield and she was bloodied Isabella would think that she was just sleeping. Isabella dropped to her knees besides Eve and let out a low, moaning sob.

"No. No…" she murmured and rocked back and forth for a few minutes just staring at Eve. Finally she couldn't look anymore and with a broken cry she wrenched herself from the ground.

And that's when she saw it.

It was a dirty, ash covered wing, sticking up from the ground defiantly. She felt her heart grow cold and her stomach bottom out. Her breath caught in her throat and she gave a strangled cry as she started to run towards the ashen and bloodied wing. She slipped and slid on the muddied ground and skidded to a halt to the broken body. Castiel's wide, lifeless eyes stared up at her and her stomach turned.

"No…" she moaned out and then the screams started. She shrieked loudly and the sobs tumbled from her mouth. "Oh God… please!" She let out a shattering wordless scream.

She woke up screaming. Castiel's face hovered above hers, concerned and sincere.

"Dove, its just a dream… just a dream…" he murmured as he pressed his lips to his forehead. She spotted Sam and Dean in the doorway, faces stoic and guns in hand and she gagged thinking of their torn bodies.

"It was so real." She sobbed out and pressed her face to the crook of Castiel's neck. He smelled clean and pure and she inhaled his scent deeply. He smelled alive. Blessedly and beautifully alive.

"I won't let it happen." He murmured into her hair as a calming hand gently stroked her back. He started to pull away but she gripped him tighter, her mind still stuck on the nightmare where he had been horrifically dead. And it was in that exact moment that she realized how much he meant to her, that her body thrummed with something that her mind refused to believe.

"Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." She begged and Castiel instead pulled her closer, gathering her into his arms before taking her back to her own room.

"Sleep… and dream pleasant dreams." He said just before he placed two calloused fingers to her forehead and the world dropped away.


A/N: So I've just spent a majority of my Holiday Break working and today was my first day off so I figured I would finally post this (its been done for a week-ish). By the way if anyone is curious about the heinous Sesame Street sweater there is a picture of Misha Collins wearing said sweater at the Vancouver Poetry Convention on the Misha Collins official livejournal. And he's grinning like an idiot, its very adorkable. If need be I can PM interested parties the link. Gugh… is it bad to murder your mother's boyfriend because he's a douche bag? I don't think it is. He keeps coming into my room to lecture me and I'm just itching to chuck something at him. I'm almost convinced he's a demon. Sam! Dean! Castiel! SAVE ME!!!! *Cough* Anyway… School is starting again and I find myself once more wondering if college is even worth it when I don't even know what I want to do. Well at least Supernatural is starting back up in just over a week, thank god because I'm pretty sure that I'm going nuts without it. Gee… I sound like some kind of addict. Supernatural is my drug of choice! I can just see the commercials now with some kid sitting in front of the TV watching Supernatural and some crappy voiceover cautioning against Supernatural usage and how it causes paranoia and brain damage as well as lust and in some extreme cases listening to "The Devil's Music"… hehe… well anyway I hope everyone enjoyed this installment and remember to review because come on… 300 plus hits and only two reviews… not very encouraging so I once more encourage you to review even if its, 'YOU SUCK!' or 'More! Now!'. Anyway… have I told you that you rock LostPhan3? Because you do. I'm glad you like the descriptions because I always do a read through before I post and I wonder if most of them are even interesting or necessary and then I say fuck it and post anyway. I'm a lazy bastard… or bitch as it were. What did you think of Uriel? I'm wondering if I even got the character right or not. Speaking of Misha… apparently he's going to appear in an episode of Nip/Tuck, normally I wouldn't watch it but I saw the clip of his consultation with them and now I just can't resist, although I doubt I'll ever be able to look at him (or Castiel) the same now. And hot damn as I was editing this (again... i swear tonight its getting posted) I was reading a Sera Gamble interview and she said we get an episode coming up that begins with Castiel's POV! OH MY FUCKING GOD! *flails* *swoons* *dies* Finally Kripke! I've been spending the past season and some change pissed at Kripke (I threw a shoe at my TV the last time I was upset and then nearly shattered my friend's eardrum was I was really pissed) Now he's getting back on my good side, kudos to Kripke for hiring Misha and then giving what the fans want. BEST MOVE EVER! And shutting up now....