"Dean, we just took a child over a state line. We just kidnapped her," Sam said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Just drive, Sam," Dean snapped. Sam looked in the rearview mirror of the Impala at his older brother. Dean was cradling Jo who was wrapped up haphazardly in his leather jacket. She had finally quieted down and was now only whining softly into Dean's shoulder. He could feel her tears through his t-shirt.

"What the hell are we gonna do with her?" Sam asked, driving past a welcome sign for Iowa.

"They'll assume she died with everyone else. I'm sure that was what was meant to happen." Dean looked down at Jo and felt his heart lurch. He tucked a piece of wet hair behind her ear before saying softly, "Why hasn't Cas turned up yet?"

The guys stopped in their usual flea-bag motel in a town that was so small it didn't even have a traffic light that they'd noticed. Sam opened the door and let Dean in, who set Jo down, her bare feet tip-toeing across the stained orange carpet.

"We're staying here?" she asked in a small voice, looking back at Dean and Sam. It wasn't said in distaste, just curiosity.

"Just for the night, then we're getting back on the road…or something," Dean answered. Sam sighed heavily and strolled over to the bed closest to the window. "Jo, you can have that bed," Dean said, pointing to the other bed. "Me and my brother are gonna take this one."

"Dude, we haven't shared a bed since we were little kids," Sam said, sitting up.

"As long as your leg doesn't find its way over mine and you don't wet the bed, we're good. Alright, princess?" Dean flopped down on the bed next to his brother. Just as he was about to turn out the light, Jo stopped him.

"Dean?"

"What's up, JoJo?"

She shuffled over to the side of his bed, tugging at her burnt pj's. "These are dirty," she said, scrunching her face at them.

"Ah we'll get you some better clothes in the morning. You can have my shirt to sleep in though," he said, pull his shirt off and tossing it to her before lying down and turning off the light.

"And now you're half-naked and we're sharing a bed. Great," Sam mumbled into the dark.

"Dude. Shut up!" Dean spat back, flopping onto his side. "You're being such a woman lately."

Jo giggled quietly across from the room before the three of them drifted off to sleep.

Dean and Sam were pulled from a deep sleep by Jo's high-pitched scream. As if by instinct, within a split second, Dean had Jo up in his arms, his and Sam's guns cocked and ready.

Dean blinked his heavy lids into the darkness of the motel room, only a faint glow from the sliver of moonlight between the curtains showed a visitor.

"Cas?"

"Hello, Dean." Cas moved his arm to his blind spot, not bothering to turn to look, and pushed the muzzle of Sam's shotgun towards the floor.

"What took you so long to show up?" Dean asked, still holding Jo. "We could have used your angel voodoo a while ago."

"I had business to attend to," Cas answered in his usual straightforward manner. His strong gaze stayed fixated on Jo the entire time. She coward into Dean's bare shoulder, whimpering.

"What are you doing with the child?" Cas asked, focusing his gaze even more.

"We were working a case and Dean's fatherly instinct decided to kick in at the worst time ever," Sam said, annoyance clear in his voice.

Cas finally looked back at him. "You don't like the child." Not a question, a statement. Sam shrugged, embarrassed.

"There's something off about her," Sam mumbled.

Dean hugged her tighter to him. "We're all she has left. Everyone else died."

"I'm afraid you cannot keep her, Dean."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Cas slowly closed the small distance between himself and the child in Dean's arms. "She is an angel of the Lord."

"No she's just a ki—" Cas' hand was on her cheek before Dean could finish. She whimpered as if in pain, wrenching her eyes shut, but otherwise didn't move in Dean's arms until Cas pulled away.

"Jophiel," Cas said, nodding to her.

"Hi, Castiel," Jo said, still somewhat child-like. "It's been a while. I was afraid I'd been completely lost in this vessel."

"Holy Freaky Friday," Sam said, wide-eyed.