Cassie shot up immediately, her back rigid and her eyes bright with fury, as they turned to the angel hovering above her.
"You're so dead, Novak," she grumbled, sending him one last glare before taking in her surroundings. She recognized the massive form behind Castiel's right shoulder as the guy who'd waved at her before she'd been unceremoniously knocked unconscious. His hair was dark like hers and tucked behind his ears. He had strong features and what appeared to be a rather open face; however, from what she'd heard about the Winchesters, she assumed that face could get pretty mean pretty damn fast. She did not recognize the only slightly less massive form to the left. His hair was lighter and cropped close to the sides, and his green eyes were closer in color to hers than the other man's hazel. He was looking at her with a mix of curiosity and suspicion that made her feel like she was under a microscope.
While she could feel some anger towards Castiel still pumping its way through her system, she tried to suppress it in order to appear civil to the two men she was apparently going to be mooching off of until this demon situation could be taken care of. She quickly swung her legs off the couch and stood up straight in order to introduce herself. The men had formed a small semi-circle around her at this point, and she couldn't help feeling like she was back in medical school, working on a project where she was the only girl in a group of ridiculously tall boys. Who really needs that much height anyways? She was only 5'3" and had made it this far. It seemed like such a waste of material.
She shook off the slight inferiority complex and reached a hand out to the tallest one to shake. "Hi, I'm Cassie Davis. Sorry to pop in so abruptly, but it seems angels lack any sense of decorum."
Castiel made an exasperated face, which seemed to leave both men trying to suppress a smile.
"Hey, I'm Sam, Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean," he said, using his right hand to gently grip her hand and the other to gesture towards the other guy. He released her hand, and she reached for Dean, who shook it looking slightly less suspicious than before.
"Nice to meet you, Cassie," he spoke politely in a voice deeper than his brother's while giving her a small grin.
"Now that the introductions have been made, I suggest we all take a seat. This may take a while to explain," spoke Castiel while gesturing towards the seats around the map-table. Dean practically skipped back to his plate, while Sam let Cassie pass in front of him to take a seat to the left of Castiel and right of Dean. He sat on the other side of Dean.
"I will start from the beginning," said the angel.
"About three weeks ago, I received a distressed message from a brother in arms in heaven. He was fighting a battle he correctly presumed he would not win and needed me to take over one of his duties after he died. You see, nearly 3,000 years ago, there was an angel named Lailah, in human history, she is referred to as the angel of conception, who claimed to have fallen in love with a mortal. Together, they conceived a Nephilim." He turned to look at Cassie. "These are considered abominations by heaven," he explained.
"Sounds like she shoulda been the angel of contraception," snorted Dean through a bite of his sandwich. Cassie let out a surprised laugh, while both Sam and Cas shot them the evil eye. Cassie had the sense to look slightly abashed, but Dean just grinned further at her blush.
"Anyways," Cas spoke, "the Nephilim was not very powerful, as Lailah was a minor angel, but it still seemed of enough concern to become a blip on Heaven's radar simply out of principle. Lailah knew the angels would come after her child, so she bargained for help from a powerful witch who managed to conceal the Nephilim's grace from other angel's senses. Because the child's power was not very strong, finding him was not a great concern for heaven, especially considering nothing unusual seemed to take place, so they forgot about the child, and instead punished Lailah, ending her existence. The child went on the father a family line, which was made visible only to Lailah's closest ally, the angel I told you about who died in battle. He had been watching over the family for centuries, making sure nothing out of the ordinary happened, and as the grace became more and more diluted over time, he became less concerned. At least until about 20 years ago, when the line produced its second female offspring. The bargain Lailah made with the witch to conceal the grace was that, when the first female was born, the witch could sacrifice her to a demon she was siphoning power from to stay alive. " He looked all three in the eyes before continuing to explain, "Even though the grace of a Nephilim becomes diluted as more generations are born, there are demons who prefer to tarnish the soul that contains some grace as a way to 'get back at heaven.'"
Cassie felt she was processing the information better than she should have. She figured it had to do something with Castiel's mind-meld thing, as she didn't even need to ask for a definition of angel grace. However, she was still slightly confused as to how this story involved her, and she could tell the brothers were too. Sam had a furrow between his eyes, while Dean seemed to chew inquisitively on his BLT.
Castiel continued. "As it turns out, the witch perished before the birth of the line's first female, meaning the girl was never sacrificed to the demon. The death of the witch also brought an end to the protective veil, though heaven was less than interested at this point. However, the demon eventual heard of the child's conception a few decades later and felt cheated. You are well aware of demons' pensions for vengeance," Cass looked pointedly at the brothers, both of whom nodded back. Castiel then turned to face Cassie. "As it turns out, that girl was your mother, and it wasn't until the demon found her that he realized she'd birthed the line's second female offspring, you, Cassie." Cassie felt as though her heart had leaped into her throat. She was suddenly assaulted by memories of crunching metal and black eyes, surprisingly clear, though she'd only been three at the time. "The car crash," she mumbled softly under her breath, her eyes locked on the angel. Both brothers sat confused, awaiting an explanation. Castiel nodded at Cassie's words. "Yes," he spoke. "That crash was no accident, though I know Adrian already told you that. However, even he was unaware of the true motivation. The demon wanted you both dead but was stopped by my friend before he could get to you. I know you remember a white light; that was Remiel. He sent the demon back to hell before placing a new protection on you, though one not as powerful as the witch's it seems." At this point, Cassie had lost count of how many times she'd been overwhelmed today. Her eyes were on Castiel's, but her mind was focused on her past.
"Wait, what crash? And if Remiel placed new protection, why is she still in danger?" Sam asked, clearly annoyed about still being in the dark. The angel opened his mouth to begin to answer, but Cassie cut him off in a soft voice, now looking at the Winchesters.
"I was three, and my mom was driving us back from a day-trip to the beach. It was dark and raining really hard. She decided to take the backroad because she knew I liked the curves, so no one was around when some man appeared right in the middle of the road. We swerved into a treeā¦on the driver's side. I was obviously hysterical, but I remember the man approaching, his eyes were pitch black, and he gave me this awful smile. I must have blacked out because I woke to this bright light, Remiel I'm assuming, before blacking out again. The next thing I knew I was with my dad. He explained to me a couple years later that a monster had killed my mom, but it wouldn't get me." My story was met with sighs from both Sam and Dean, though they didn't look at me with pity, only a deep understanding, which I appreciated.
"So, you know about monsters?" Dean asked me, as he licked the remainder of his sandwich from his fingers. I nodded in response.
"Yeah, my dad, Adrian, was a hunter. He taught me most of what he knew before he died when I was nine, werewolf hunt gone wrong. I got put in an orphanage before leaving for school when I was 15." I looked down at my hands. My dad and I had been pretty close, though the length of time since his death made it easier to talk about.
"Wait," Sam said again. "Adrian? Adrian Davis?" he questioned. Dean seemed to perk up at the name before speaking, "wasn't that dad's hunting friend down in Georgia? I read about him in dad's journal. They were as close as hunters can get."
"That makes sense," Cassie answered. "I'm from Savannah, and dad used to tell me about you guys and your father."
"Small world," Sam muttered. That's when Castiel butted in again.
"It was no coincidence," the angel spoke. "This is what I wanted to share. I found out recently that Adrian Davis was not your biological father."
