AN: Thank you, thank you! I hope y'all like this chapter.

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Waiting for Salvation

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Dean stared at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't believe how he had acted the previous day. Snuggling up against Castiel. Taking comfort from a stupid, young, attractive, stupid angel. And he wanted to do it again.

He jumped when Sam banged on the bathroom door. 'You all right in there?'

'Yeah, yeah,' he grumbled as he opened the door. 'All yours, Princess.'

Dean threw himself on one of the beds and stared at the ceiling. When he heard the shower start, he let out a weary sigh, closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate. The whispers came slowly at first. Then he was able to decipher them. The angels were scrambling to different seals. Handing out orders to guard the more easily broken, tracking demonic movements and odd omens... The occasional comment on the Winchester brothers and their current location would drift through. More whispers were coming through about Dean. He had been pulled out of Hell. He had been chosen. Dean would be key to saving everything. Dean was—

'Dean!'

Dean came back to reality with a start. He stared up at Sam, who had a worried look on his face. 'Sorry. Must've drifted off...,' he mumbled as he sat up. He rubbed a hand over his face. Things were not looking good. If the angels were gossiping about him, that meant more attention was being sent his way. He needed to be careful. He would have to keep his powers tightly under wrap for the foreseeable future. With the way things were going, it would only be a matter of time until the cat was out of the bag. He watched Sam pack up the rest of their belongings and hoped Sam wouldn't hate him when he did find out.

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While investigating the wishing well, Dean could occasionally feel the presence of an angel. And it wasn't the same angel every time. They were taking turns watching Dean. It was beyond aggravating to know they were sitting there, doing nothing. Not bothering to lift a finger to help.

The same thing happened when Sam and Dean went after a ghost. The angels were just lingering on the edges. Watching. Doing nothing. Not even throwing a scant bit of information to the brothers. As they left the town, Dean could feel the angels' visits becoming less frequent. He had mixed feelings on the turn of events. It was good that he would be getting some privacy, but bad in that it could only mean something big was up.

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And something big was up. In the form of Anna. At first, Dean thought she might be a prophet, that would explain why the demons wanted her. But then he met her. For a pretty prophet, she sure did feel...wrong. It was as if she was empty. Just a vacant body meandering around. Her very presence made him itch. He stuttered as he spoke to her, trying to shut out the internal alarms that kept screaming 'wrong-wrong-wrong!' Maybe they could dump her somewhere safe. Sam would be happy for her safety, and Dean would be rid of her presence. But they could use her. She seemed a little more aptly tuned to Angel Radio than he was at the moment. He could put up with a little discomfort for some insight.

Things were going well enough when Ruby reared her ugly head. Oh, and did he detect a bit of real fear in her voice? Whoever the other demon was, he must have been hot shit to have Ruby actually worried. And as the demon drew closer, Dean's stomach dropped.

Alastair threw Sam down the stairs, and Dean attacked with the knife, hoping he was making the right decision in trusting Ruby enough to not harm Anna. As Dean struggled with Alastair, he was pushed into a beam.

Alastair leaned in close and spoke softly, casually into Dean's ear. 'Hello, Seraphiel.' He leaned back and punched Dean. 'Did you miss me?' Another punch. 'I missed you.'

Sam came to Dean's rescue. With a quick glance between Alastair and the window, the brothers jumped out, Dean using his wings to slow their fall to something less damaging.

Even with Sam's story, Dean was very surprised to see Ruby. And he was angry at Anna for falling for Ruby's act as well. Was he surrounded by idiots? Demons were demons. The individual might have personal goals, but when it boiled down to it, they all worked for Lucifer and his schemes. Sam was alive because Lucifer needed him alive.

He had to bite back a harsh response when Anna mentioned contacting her parents, so he left it to Sam to break the news to her. In the middle of her breakdown, Dean felt the presence of angels coming closer, and Anna felt it, too.

Anna was ushered to the other room and the remaining three prepared for the worst. The door burst opened and in walked Castiel.

Castiel was shocked to see Dean. Why was he with Anna? Did Dean know who and what she was? He was here on orders, originally. But, now...now he could feel all new reasons to complete his mission rising to the surface. From the way Dean spoke, he didn't seem to know who she was, just that she had access to the angels' communications. Castiel tried to explain without giving everything away. He didn't need for Dean to side with the other fallen angel out of some form of sympathy. He didn't want Dean to become attached and closer to her. He wanted that attachment for himself. He looked away from Dean. His thoughts were becoming more selfish. He didn't want to kill Anna because of his orders or what she was. He wanted her dead so he could have Dean all to himself. He felt so ashamed in that moment of realization.

When Uriel attacked the demon, Castiel used the distraction to go after Anna. With a simple touch, Sam was unconscious and posed no further threat. He grabbed the door handle and felt a powerful banishing spell form.

Dean gritted his teeth as the spell pushed at his being. He looked for any crack in the spell to slip through and found one. With everything he had, he focused on every dark aspect of his being. Every evil thing he had done, all the demonic energy he had gained through his actions. He gasped as the spell ended and found himself coughing up a good deal of blood from the exertion.

When he saw the mirror Anna had written the sigils on, he wondered where she had learned it. She was tapped into what the angels were saying, not Enochian spells. Dean was beginning to worry. Maybe he should have just handed her over to the angels.

They decided to take her to Bobby's for safe keeping. With Anna hidden away in the panic room, Dean claimed to be in need of a nap. He secluded himself and tried to tap into the Angel Radio. Anna was right, it was silent. But there were still soft murmurs floating about. They were looking for Anna. And something else. The angels were being vague, obviously trying to avoid tipping off Anna. He was pulled back by Sam shouting for him.

Looking over Anna's psych file, and proceeding to get caught, Sam suggested finding out just what Anna had done. He figured Pamela would be able to use her power to help them find answers.

That was how Dean found himself on the doorstep of the psychic. Before he could knock, the door opened. 'Pamela!' he greeted.

'Dean.' She leaned against the door frame and tilted her head to the side. 'There's something different about you...,' she said as she raised a hand to Dean's cheek. 'No...you've always been...' She quickly took her hand back as if burned.

Dean swallowed nervously.

'You could have prevented this,' she said bitterly and removed her sunglasses, showing off her false eyes.

'He...he did warn you,' he weakly replied.

She let out a snort. 'Yeah...but I'm stubborn and won't back down from a challenge. I will say this though, I'm a lot better than I used to be. Being blind has opened my eyes.' She let a genuine smile grace her lips. 'Thank you.'

'For what?' Dean asked, confused.

'You're the first person to look at me and not be radiating pity. Oh! It's sickening,' she complained. 'Look, I know you're not sorry for what happened. You don't have to be. It's not your fault.'

'Uh, thanks. I guess...' Dean shifted uncomfortably.

'So, which angel are you? Anyone famous?'

Dean's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't spoken his own name aloud in so long. 'Ser—Seraphiel.'

'Leader of the seraphim... Nice.'

'Haven't been that for a long time,' he commented quietly. '...Don't—'

'It'll be our little secret.'

They stood in silence for a solid minute before Pamela spoke again.

'Did it hurt?'

'Huh?'

'When you fell from Heaven?' she asked in sweet tone.

Dean stared at her, his mouth open and a dumbfounded look on his face. 'W-what?'

Pamela chuckled at Dean's reaction. 'Oh, come on. Can you blame me? When else am I gonna a get a chance to use that line and mean it?'

Dean shook his head and laughed. 'Right. Very funny. Let's go, I'll explain on the way.'

Once in the Impala, Dean glanced sideways at Pamela. 'And for the record, yes.'

Pamela turned her face towards Dean. 'Pardon?'

'When I Fell. It hurt. A lot. But not in the way you're thinking,' he said and started the engine.