OUR LADY OF SORROWS

Sam and Dean sat in a bar not far from the bunker celebrating a successful hunt of a Wendigo, it had also been local which meant they hadn't spent hours travelling which also put a good swing into their moods. From the look Dean was giving the bar as he surveyed in Sam had the idea that he would probably be going home without is brother that night. Managing to locate the Wendigo, kill it and save the people it had taken before it killed them really had improved his mood and it wouldn't have been possible without Aien being so tenacious on this hunt.

Sam frowned at his beer at that thought. He didn't know if Dean remembered what week this was but he certainly did. Aien and Dean had a lot of similarities – their music taste, sense of humour – and that also extended to the way they tried to bury unwanted emotions. By drowning them in the hunt.

"Where's our sister dearest?" Dean asked suddenly drawing Sam out of his stupor and looking around the table.

"I-"Sam jumped suddenly when his arm brushed someone else's and he found that Castiel had appeared at some point while he was deep in thought.

"I believe I saw her outside of the bunker" the angel said frowning "she appeared to be attacking a tree, and crying…"

The brothers paused. "Attacking a tree?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed, he knew what she was doing. "Do you mean she was throwing her knives at a tree Cas?"

"Yes, that's what I said, she was attacking a tree. While crying. I wanted to see what the matter was but was concerned I might become a knife target myself so resolved to seek your advice first."

"She's not attacking it" Sam shifted "she's just…working through some emotions."

Dean frowned "I thought she usually 'worked through emotions' and that crap with you princess?" he smirked at Cas "Sam likes girly nights with movies and ice-cream."

"Dean" Sam said his name in that soft 'I'm being serious' tone which made Dean at first roll his eyes before he looked at Sam and saw that his younger brother was trying to give him a look. Sam could tell Dean still didn't get it and he looked down, clearing his throat "it's the anniversary Dean…"

For a second Dean still didn't get it, and when he did he put down his beer and his amused expression gave away to a serious one. "Oh, shit…" he muttered, then more angrily "dammit, no wonder she didn't rest on this hunt…"

"I don't understand" Cas was frowning at the brothers.

Dean sighed and looked at Sam "I keep forgetting that he doesn't seem to remember…"

Sam looked at the angel beside him "Cas you remember everything else from when you where-"

"-A fruitcake?-" Dean suggested.

"-yea, are you sure you don't remember answering Aien's prayer?"

Cas did try to remember, the brothers could see in the way he scowled an expression usually reserved for when he was fighting. However after a moment he began to shake his head. "Apologies but some things are… just too dark to remember correctly."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. "You can take this one Sammy" Dean said taking a swig from his beer "I'm not the best at telling this story" he finished darkly.

Sam nodded and looked back to Cas. "Aien was attacked" he said in a rush.

Cas interrupted before he could continue "-by what?"

"Humans" Dean growled.

Before the confused frowning angel could interrupt again Sam continued his story. "Aien… she ran away for a night, everything was getting to her I guess, and she ended up going to a bar and drinking a lot more than she should have. A man approached her and Aien thought that because she was a hunter, and because she was not human, that he couldn't harm her but… the man tricked her, and she was cornered by multiple men…"

Dean had a white-knuckle grip on his beer bottle at this point and Sam's voice was soft as he refused to look up from a marking on the wooden table keeping his hands clasped tightly in his lap. Cas was staring between them, able to feel the tension and feeling a knot grow in his own stomach.

"Of course Aien fought against them" Sam continued after a pause, sounding a little proud of her.

Dean added with a slightly sad smile "I don't think Aien knows how not to fight…"

"Yeah, well, she had been drinking so she wasn't the steadiest person on her feet and they were humans so she resisted using her blade…" Sam sighed again "and because the men kept grabbing her Aien couldn't teleport without bringing them with her, and you know what happens when she does ride-along's…."

"She doesn't have the required energy to travel with companions which renders her unconscious" the angel nodded.

"Exactly, so Aien tried to fight… and she ended up failing. She said it was while she was pinned to the floor that a man started to touch her and she thought of you Cas, she thought of all of us, before she said something in her head snapped."

Sam took a break to drink his beer. Castiel was frowning. Upon first meeting the part-angel creation that was Aien he had often debated what would happen should Aien snap, the two warring natures of her angelic side and her human side finally breaking to allow one complete control of her. Which of her sides would come through? He had no doubts that it would likely be the angel side. The power that Aien wielded, unlike his, came from herself rather than from heaven like his.

Sam wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, his knee beginning to jerk as he continued to speak. "Aien said that she couldn't make sense of her thoughts, like they weren't hers. She said that she took out most of the men without difficulty, feeling like she'd never had a drink, before she faced the man who had first tricked her. She said that she had the urge to 'destroy what was evil' that she got the feeling from him that she sometimes got from demons even though he was certainly a human… she said she wanted to kill him-"

"-don't blame her-"Dean muttered.

"-and was about to, when you appeared and stopped her." Sam was looking at Castiel to see if there was any kind of recognition.

"I did?" Cas tilted his head in that inquiring manner though the angry expression on his face never felt, his voice deepened with it.

"You still don't remember?" Dean frowned at the angel.

"No" he confessed "I…I remember talking to Aien about bees but I don't remember where I was or what was happening?"

"That was probably it" Sam nodded, giving the angel a very slight smile "she did say you were talking about bees. She wondered why you were fascinated with bees and not butterflies which she thinks are more interesting."

"Butterflies?" Cas frowned.

Dean cleared his throat suddenly "right so now you know why Aien is 'attacking' trees and after that trip down memory lane I need to find something that makes me feel very, very, good." Dean downed the last of his beer, still frowning, he didn't manage to wipe the scowl from his face until after he'd approached a pair of blondes at the bar who had been making eyes at him since they'd arrived.

This left Sam and Castiel at the table, apparently enjoying a companionable silence, though the angel had a look of puzzlement on his face. Finally he said to Sam "I am feeling a… odd emotion."

Sam gave the angel a funny look from the side "Oh?" he sincerely hoped this wasn't anything like the 'pizza man' emotion.

"Yes I find myself wanting to make Aien feel better about something she is obviously still angry about…"

Sam smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. "Yeah well… we all want to do that Cas but it's just something Aien has to work through. If she wants your help she'll ask for it."

Silence settled between them again and Sam looked at the angel beside him, the way he still scowled at the table. Then he glanced at Dean across the room flirting with the blondes. "You really like her, don't you?"

Cas looked at Sam "what?"

"Aien, you really like her don't you?"

"Of course I like her, she is my best friend…"

"No" Sam cut the angel off "I mean really like her. More than friends."

Castiel's eyes widened as he stared at Sam, and his eyes flickered over to Dean. Sam shared his gaze, before he said with a very slight smile "don't worry about Dean. He's just overprotective. We don't actually have a little sister after all, Aien's the closest we've got. He just doesn't want to see her hurt anymore" Sam drained the last of his beer "I'll give you some free advice alright? With Aien… don't try to make her talk about it or she'll rip your throat out. Just… let her know you're there for her. Even if you have no idea what you're doing…" Sam's voice trailed off to silence as he saw the door of the bar open and Aien walked in holding a plastic bag from the local supermarket.

Aien glanced around the bar and she smiled when she saw Sam and Castiel sitting at a table. In response Sam raised his empty beer bottle at her with a lazy shrug, and the angel looked up like he'd just been caught doing something he shouldn't. Then again he had that deer in headlights look fairly often so Aien didn't think too much of it. She approached them, eyes glancing around to spot her oldest brother, and when she saw him with his back to her and chatting up some blondes a smile grew on her face and she changed directions. She reached into her bag pulling out a small box. She tapped on Dean's shoulder making him turn and said loudly "Hey Dean, I got the cream for your haemorrhoids!"

Across the room Sam laughed loudly and in front of her Dean spluttered and his eyes got wide. The two girls he'd been hitting on giggled and swiftly moved away to their friends at a table where they immediately told them the story and the rest of their friends began to laugh too looking at Dean.

Dean dragged Aien back to the table where Sam was still chuckling. "What the hell was that?" Dean asked her as they sat.

"Revenge" Aien replied in a sing-song voice

Dean looked flustered "revenge? Revenge for what!?"

Aien thought of at least five things off the top of her head but decided to reply "not sure yet, I'm sure you'll do something though."

Sam finally finished chuckling and asked – through a still wide and amused smile – "what have you got in the bag?"

Aien lifted the bag onto the table "you mean besides toothpaste which everyone in this bar thinks is Dean's haemorrhoid cream?" she asked raising an eyebrow "some shampoo, microwave pop-corn and lemonade so I can have a nice quiet movie night. Are you guys staying here?"

"Well there's no point seeing as you ruined my night's plans…" Dean grumbled at her "but I get to choose the movie, as my revenge."

Aien groaned "you're going to pick some horrible tense gory flick aren't you?"

"Is there any better kind?"

"How about every other kind?" she rolled her eyes as she and the boys walked out of the bar to the Impala (the girls Dean had tried to hit on giggled as he walked past and he threw a glare at Aien, who only shrugged.) She spotted Castiel giving her an odd look and hung back a bit from the boys who were getting in the car when the angel stopped. "Cas? Is everything okay?"

The angel stared down at his feet and didn't answer for a second. When he looked up at her there was something Aien couldn't identify in his eyes. "No" was all he said however before he had reached up and poked her on the head. The hook-in-your-belly sensation of being teleported alongside Castiel overcame her as they vanished from outside of the bar and reappeared in the bunkers kitchen. Aien stumbled a little, grabbing onto the counter top to stop herself from falling.

"Castiel!" she groaned "you really need to at least give warning before you do that!"

He didn't apologise, and he didn't move.

Aien watched him feeling a little wary. Castiel was a bit unpredictable sometimes, and apparently this was one of those times. "You know, the boys are probably going to be pissed that you didn't say anything before zapping us back to the bunker."

Cas just watched her, before he finally said with a slight crease of his eyebrows "Sam suggested that I let you know I am here for you, which I am trying to do, only I'm not sure how."

Aien felt her shoulders droop. She hadn't even realised how tense she had been until they did, and she stared at the angel before her like he might suddenly sprout another head. "What do you mean?" she asked guardedness creeping into her voice.

Cas could see the way her body seemed to relax but her eyes remained cautious. "Sam has told me this week is an emotional time for you, and while I wish to make you feel better Sam also says this is impossible and that I should just 'be there' for you."

Curse you Sam Winchester… Aien stared at the angel who stared right back his soft blue eyes seeming to glow in the darkness of the unlit kitchen. Castiel began to suspect he had said something wrong when Aien didn't speak. "Uh" the angel shifted his weight on his feet "perhaps I have said something wrong…"

"No!" Aien shouted to assure him which seemed to startle them both, so when she continued she made sure her voice was at a normal tone "no, it's just most people don't come out and… state that they're there for you."

"Oh… what do they do?"

"Well" Aien rubbed the back of her neck "they offer comfort to their friends…"

"How?"

"Uh… they might eat junk food together or cuddle or offer to lend them an ear – even if they don't want to talk about it…" she threw the angel a smile, pulling the pack of microwave popcorn from the shopping bag and the tub of ice cream "and I'm all set for the junk food. You don't have to eat it."

"Will it comfort you if I did?"

She frowned "not particularly because I'd know you weren't enjoying it… plus Dean would probably be unhappy we ate all the food without him."

"That is true" Cas nodded.

"Why don't you turn on the lights? I'm going to start making this popcorn so it will be ready when the boys get home."

Aien turned her back on Cas to prepare the popcorn but heard the swish of his coat as he moved and the click of the lights as they illuminated the room. She was watching the bag of popcorn rotate in the microwave when hands landed on her shoulders, span her around and pulled her to a chest clothes in a white cotton shirt.

Aien squeaked. "Uh…Cas?" she gasped with surprise "I kind of need oxygen…"

His grip on her lessened but he didn't let her go. At least it was enough that Aien could now look up at his face and give him an amused grin. This was the most contact she'd had with the angel since what she called the 'almost-wing-incident' a few weeks ago. While neither of them had mentioned that night, well not after she asked if his feathers where coming in okay and he'd blushed hard a reaction not unnoticed by Sam and Dean, they did seem have an increased awareness of each other since then. Which was why Aien asked "what are you doing?"

"I do not eat food and you do not wish to speak about what happened" Cas said "You also said as part of comforting each other people might cuddle."

"Oh well…" Aien smiled at him "I appreciate it, and I really enjoy it, but I need to sort out this popcorn before it burns."

"Of course" Castiel let go of her and stepped back.

Aien kept giving him a funny look over her shoulder as she rescued the popcorn and poured it into a large bowl. She put the bowl on the table near the TV, as well as her ice-cream and lemonade before she looked back at the angel, paused for a moment, and went back to his side. She offered him her hand "come on angel-face" she smiled leading him by hand to the sofa.

"I-uh…" Cas hesitated as they stood in front of the sofa.

"Calm down Cas" Aien chuckled "just come sit with me. I'm going to need someone who can point out how stupid the plot of Dean's chosen film is anyway."

Cas still hesitated but after a second he nodded. "Why don't you take off your jacket and get comfy?" Aien suggested, turning around to grab the blanket she left on the chair and wrapping it around herself. She sat on the sofa and watched Castiel remove his tan overcoat, and then he surprised her by removing the blazer jacket too. He almost looked naked, and she could see he was a bit uncomfortable about it. She patted the seat beside her and when he sat down she threw the blanket over his shoulders.

"Uh… Aien, I don't-"

"-Shh!" she hissed as him kindly as she heard the rumbling engine of the Impala followed by the voices of Sam and Dean echoing "it's so I can still cuddle you okay?"

Cas didn't get time to reply before Sam and Dean suddenly appeared. "A little warning before you two vanish like that? We were sat waiting for you for at least ten minutes before we realised you were gone" Dean grumbled, seeing the bowl of popcorn and grabbing a handful which he stuffed into his mouth.

"You should learn to be more perceptive of your surroundings" Aien replied watching as Sam half collapsed into the chair, his legs slung over the arm. "What film are you choosing?"

Dean lifted up a plastic bag in his other hand "decided to swing by and get something new."

Sam groaned "he walked in and asked – and I quote – for the goriest most disturbing film they had."

Aien tensed a little "I'm really not going to like this am I?" she said, and Dean grinned.

An hour and forty minutes later all four of them where thoroughly disturbed. Apparently Dean really hadn't thought about the purchase of the film 'Antichrist' other than that it was gory and he figured that as angel and part angel maybe Aien and Cas would get a bit of a kick out of it. Instead they'd all spent half their time trying discreetly not to look at the screen, Aien spent most of her time with her face behind Castiel's arm, and at one point Dean was yelling at the TV. Not even Cas said anything until the end of the film.

The film went black with the credits.

Cas cleared his throat. "I-uh- I believe this was a demonstration of how disturbed the human mind can become…"

They all made noises of agreement and Aien got up to remove the offensive film. She put something else in the DVD player then settled back down on the sofa beside Cas' this time with her legs slung over Cas's knees making him tense a little. "I think we could all do with something innocent to get rid that film… Dean, your banned from choosing movies for the next month."

"And who's going to enforce that rule?"

"I am" both Sam and Aien replied.

"No sense of humour" Dean grumbled folding his arms. "Cas you're getting a bit close" he protested suddenly.

"Apologies" the angel shifted a little.

The new film began to roll and Dean smiled a little "batman, Aien, really?"

"What? I love batman!"

"We know" Sam said "we've seen the film so many times this is the second copy of it we've had to buy."

"Don't dis batman" she grumbled standing again suddenly "I'll be back in a second."

They boys where left alone.

"Cas" Dean hissed at the angel sitting beside him "I don't normally give advice to dudes about my sister but when she comes back there's a thing you can do…"

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's advice and said nothing as young Bruce Wayne's parents were shot dead on screen. When Aien returned however, tucking herself under the blanket and putting her legs across Cas again, he couldn't help but watch as the angel looked very uncomfortable between the oblivious girl draped over him and Dean poking him discreetly in the ribs. Eventually the angel moved, stretching his arms, and when they came back down one was draped over the back of the sofa around Aien.

The move didn't go unnoticed. She watched as Cas looked at Dean who gave him an encouraging thumbs up, then turned to share a look with Sam and roll her eyes. She didn't say anything however. Snuggling with her friends on the couch watching movies – even if Dean had chosen to disturb them all with his movie choice – was a far better way to spend her night than throwing daggers at tree targets was.

She smiled and curled into the nook of Castiel's shoulder. Yes this was certainly better than dwelling on a past she couldn't change, even if she was still angry about it.


Title from 'Our Lady of Sorrows' by My Chemical Romance

So yep not as exciting as last chapter - trust me I'll make up for that in the next one *wink wink* - but I didn't wan the first chapter to just be random. Of course Aien had some...uh...related anger issues. It is also the reason why Dean is so overprotective in these fics. I cant imagine he would be the kind of big brothers to take lightly his sister getting attacked. Oh yeah btw just imagine Aien and Sam having a totally girly night with stupid films and ice cream xD