"So let me get this straight," Katrina said in disbelief, "You hacked into the FBIs computers?"
"Yep," Charlie said, cracking her fingers and leaning back, "What we needed was only in the medium level security."
"And when you say medium, I'm guessing you mean something much higher standard than the firewall I have on my laptop."
"Definitely," Charlie nodded, grinning, "I just had to access their facial recognition software and the feed for all of the security cameras in the country. At least, that's the simplified version of what I did, for the civilians."
"How did you know what to look for in the first place?" Sam asked.
Castiel looked up, "I knew the name of the vessel that Metatron had chosen. Angels know this instinctually. Charlie found a picture of him and used that."
"Finally, someone whose nerdom is useful around here," Katrina sighed, smirking at Sam. Sam rolled his eyes. Charlie drew herself up a bit with pride, smiling.
"So where is he then?" Dean asked, leaning in to look at the screen.
"He was in a Dairy Queen in West Virginia around noon, but then he went off of the grid again. If he pops up again we'll know immediately."
"What was he doing in a Dairy Queen?" Dean asked incredulously, "As a matter of fact, what is he doing on Earth?"
"Well I'm gunna make a wild guess and say he was eating icecream," Katrina said sarcastically.
"I have no idea…." Castiel murmured, ignoring her comment, "But he had some reason for shutting all of the angels out of heaven. I'm sure he has a plan."
"So where is this Dairy Queen?" Katrina asked, "Exact location please."
"Umm…" Charlie said, "It's in a town called Spencer, on Ripley road," she pointed at the map.
"Okay," Katrina straightened up, "I'll go check it out."
"What? No way!" Dean protested.
"What's wrong?"
"What are you gunna do when you get there?"
"I'm gunna ask around, obviously. See if anyone noticed anything strange or if anyone heard him say anything."
"And how exactly are you going to do that? What will your excuse be? 'Oh yeah I'm just some random chick you never met and I have some questions about a paying customer that came in earlier.'" Dean said, exasperated.
"Fine, what would you have me do?"
"Take me with you, and I'll ask the questions."
Katrina crossed her arms, "And what makes you think they'll be more likely to answer your questions?"
"Listen feathers," Dean said, "I'm a hunter. It's my job to get people to tell me about strange things. I've been to more crime scenes and morgues than I can count. So trust me, I'm a professional."
"Fine…" Katrina sighed. She had hoped that they were past the stupid nicknames. Apparently that was too much to hope for.
"Alright," Dean cracked his knuckles, "I'll go change."
"Change?" Katrina exclaimed as he walked away, "For what?!"
"Gotta look the part Kit Kat!"
"What part?" She called after him, "And don't call me Kit Kat!"
Sam snickered. Katrina glared at him.
"What?" Sam said, holding his hands up in surrender, "I think it's sweet," he grinned.
"Sweet? Was that some attempt at a lame pun?" Katrina snorted.
"I don't think it was that lame," Sam huffed.
"It was pretty lame," Kevin agreed.
"Don't worry Sam," Charlie said, not looking up from her laptop, "I think your corny wordplay is funny."
"Thanks Charlie."
"Funny like watching a person run into a glass door," Charlie added, smirking.
Kevin and Katrina laughed while Sam pulled a fake pout.
"Okay let's head out," Dean said, entering the room again.
Katrina raised an eyebrow, "You're wearing a suit to the Dairy Queen?" Dean was wearing a cheap two piece with a tie. But Katrina had to admit, he did clean up well.
Dean pulled out a badge and flipped it open, "FBI Kit Kat."
Katrina's eyes narrowed. It looked like this was going to be as popular as "feathers."
"Alright, let's go," Dean pulled out his keys.
"No way," Katrina shook her head, "We are not driving across the country. We're flying."
Dean paled, opening his mouth to protest.
"Quit being such a stubborn baby," Katrina cut him off, "He was there a few hours ago, we need to go while the memories are still fresh. We don't have time for an interstate road trip. I can't believe you even considered driving."
"It's Dean," Castiel said, "He always considers driving."
"Well, I'm not going to consider it. Let's go." She went to grab his shoulder. Dean jerked away, making Katrina's brow furrow in frustration. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way."
Dean suddenly found that he couldn't move a muscle below his neck. His eyes widened in surprise as he felt Katrina scoop him up, bridal style, into her arms.
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, his legs refusing to move.
"Act like a baby, get treated like a baby," Katrina shrugged, then flew off.
When they landed, Katrina set Dean back on his feet. Dean hastily straightened out his suit, trying to regain his dignity, the tips of his ears red.
"Don't worry," Katrina rolled her eyes, "There's no one around." She had landed in a small clearing, surrounded by trees. She could hear cars and conversations just south of them. Dean's ears only picked up the sounds of cars.
"Where are we?" he asked, irritated.
"I brought you to the middle of a random forest to finish you off once and for all," Katrina said sarcastically. When Dean shot her an unamused look she sighed, "We're just in the woods a bit north of the Dairy Queen. I figured it would be better if I didn't suddenly materialize out of thin air in the middle of a restaurant."
"Alright, let's go," Dean started trudging off.
"Uh Dean…"
"What?"
"It's that way."
"How can I help you?" A guy who was way too chipper for Dean's tastes asked.
"Um yeah, I was just wondering if I could ask you a few questions about someone who was here around noon." Dean showed him his badge.
"Oh, uh," the young man's smile dropped, "I just started my shift fifteen minutes ago, but you could ask Paul! He's been here since eleven." He pointed to a man who was wiping tables.
"Thanks," Dean said, crossing the room. "Hey, uh, Paul?"
The man straightened up. Dean wondered if his scraggly grey mustache was against some sort of health code. "Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you?"
"Agent Gibson," he said, showing him his badge before tucking it back into his pocket and pulling out a picture of Metatron. "I was wondering if you happened to see this man here around noon."
The man eyed the picture warily, "Yeah, he was here all right."
"Did he do or say anything strange at all? Was there anything odd that you noticed?"
"Yeah," the man shifted slightly, looking away, "It sounds pretty crazy though."
"Crazy how?"
"Well…" the man murmured, running his thumb and his forefinger over his mustache, "I went over to ask if everything was tasting good, and if there was anything I could get for them, but he just stared at me. Didn't say nothin. And then I started to get this awful headache. It didn't go away until I was outta his sight."
"Huh… that is weird."
"Yeah. I've never seen him around before. But he was with Steve and Tony, who come around here all the time."
"He was with someone?"
"Yeah, but I didn't get to hear what they were talking about," the man frowned, "I was a bit reluctant to go anywhere near them again after what happened with my head. But they were acting kinda funny. Tony's usually a great heap of silliness, his laughs booming through the entire room, but today he was real quiet and serious. I've never seen him so serious before."
So, angel possession then? Dean thought, But what angel would wanna work with Metatron after he locked them all outta heaven?
"Could I get a look at your security tapes?"
Katrina reluctantly ate her icecream sundae as she watched Dean talk to the employees. He had insisted that she observe from afar instead of going with him. She was feeling particularly underappreciated when her thoughts were interrupted by a tug on her sleeve. She turned to her left to see a small boy smiling at her.
"I like your wings," he said brightly.
"My what? Katrina's eyes widened, bewildered. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't visible. They weren't.
"Your wings! I've never seen blue ones before!"
Katrina glanced around, lowering her voice, "You've seen people with wings before?"
"Yeah, but never two in one day."
"How long have you been here?" Katrina glanced up at the clock, Metatron had been gone for over two hours now, "Where are your parents?" Who on earth was this boy? He didn't seem anything but human.
"They're at work. My brother works here, and I get to come with him and eat free ice cream," he grinned happily.
"So… you saw someone else with wings today?"
"Yeah, that's who you and that man over there are looking for right?" He sat down across from her.
"Yes. We are. Can you tell me what he was doing?"
"Well, he was talking to two men that looked like Mr. Steve and his husband."
"What do you mean looked like?"
"Well… Everyone thought it was them, and they did look just like them… but it wasn't them. There was something wrong with their faces. But only I could see it."
"But they didn't have wings like me?"
"Nope."
"And it didn't seem like it was just someone inside their body?"
"No, it was a different person, just pretending to be Mr. Steve."
Katrina bit her lip, "Do you see things that other people don't see often?"
"Yeah, ever since my eyes got fixed."
"Fixed by who? What was wrong with your eyes?"
"I used to be blind because of an accident I got into. I was in the hospital, and another man with wings came and fixed them for me. But he had different wings too. Instead of white they were black, and they looked like they were kinda broken. I remember being scared because his eyes were black too."
Katrina listened, her breath stopped in her chest. This was a boy that Castiel had healed? Then she remembered. She hadn't recognized him at first because he had been so young when they had visited him. The boy had started screaming when he opened his eyes and saw Castiel. Needless to say, Castiel had been quite shocked, and Katrina had ushered him out of there before they caused too much of a scene. Apparently Castiel had made the boys eyes work a little too well. He would be happy to know that this was why the boy had been screaming.
What an amazing coincidence though, she thought as she studied the boy closely.
She heard a cough from behind her. Turning, she saw Dean motion towards the door.
"Well, it was nice meeting you," Katrina smiled, "What's your name?"
"Lucas," the boy grinned back at her, "You should come visit again!"
"Sounds like a plan," Katrina quickly focused her awareness onto his soul so that she could find it again later. Then she sent her ice cream to a nearby trashcan with a flick of her wrist. Lucas' eyes widened with wonder and she winked at him conspiratorily before following Dean out the door.
"Okay, so it seems like we're looking at three angels now," Dean started as they walked.
"I don't think so," Katrina disagreed, remembering what Lucas had said.
"What makes you say that?" Dean looked at her disbelievingly, "The people that I talked to said that the guys Metatron was with weren't acting like themselves. So you've got to assume they're being possessed by angels."
"That's what I thought too," Katrina nodded, "But the boy I was talking to was there too, and he told me some interesting stuff." She went over what the boy had told her.
"Skipping past the weird magic eyes," Dean frowned, "It sounds like they may be shifters then. They never looked at the cameras so I couldn't see their eyes. But what would Metatron want with shifters?"
"Couldn't it be demons?" Katrina asked. Demons looked like humans.
"No, from what I've heard, those who can see the true faces of demons are horrified because they're hideous." Katrina wouldn't say that they were hideous. Terrifying, yes. But not hideous. "And demons possess people like angels, the kid said they were their own creatures."
Katrina stopped dead in her tracks.
"What's wrong?" Dean stopped after a few paces, looking back.
"Angels and demons possess people… All of those angels I killed… they were people…" Her face was painted with horror. How had she not realized that before? She had killed innocent people without a second thought. What was wrong with her? For some reason she had just thought that angels and demons had just looked like people and could possess people as well. That was what she did afterall. But the smoke that had come out of the demon had been the demon. God, she was such an idiot. "And the demons I helped Sam kill… You guys kill innocent people almost every day…" Her hands were shaking and her knees felt weak. "Castiel… that's not even his own body…" She hadn't realized that she had fallen to her knees until Dean stooped down on one knee to look at her.
"Okay, okay, listen," he said in a gruff attempt to be soothing, "If it makes you feel any better, angels have to ask for permission before they can possess someone. So Castiel's vessel agreed to it."
"Did he know what he was agreeing to?" she looked up, fighting back tears, "I don't think anyone really knows what angels are like. He probably just thought he would do some holy mission and then get to go back. Is he stuck in there, with Castiel trapped in there too now as a human?" Nausea rose up inside her, "Oh my God. I slept with him!" Hysteria bubbled in her chest.
"Woah woah," Dean's eyes widened in slight panic, "Calm down. It's okay." He seemed uncomfortably unprepared to deal with the sudden overflow of emotion, "I'm pretty sure that Jimmy isn't in there anymore. Castiel has died and been brought back so many times, I don't think that Jimmy was brought back with him. I'm sure he's in heaven. Okay?"
Katrina nodded, "It's really shitty of me that that makes me feel better, but it does." God, what kind of horrible person was she if the idea of someone being dead made her feel better? "I hope he's happy up there… But… everything else is still true."
"We can worry about that later," he put a hand on her shoulder, "Let's get back to the bunker for now."
"Okay…" Katrina stood, taking hold of Dean's arm and flying them found Charlie, Kevin, Castiel, and Sam huddled around something on the table in concentration.
"Really?" Dean said, "Scrabble?"
"I've been told it is yet another human rite of passage…" Castiel said, not looking up from his tiles.
"Yeah, if you're a nerd," Dean snorted.
"How did your investigation go?" Sam looked up, his face sliding from curiosity to worry as he saw Katrina's ashen face. "What's wrong?"
The rest of the group looked up at his words, concern tainting their faces as well. Katrina couldn't take it.
"Nothing. Uh… I'm gunna go out. I'll see you guys later."
"Wai-" she didn't stay to discuss, vanishing.
"What was that all about?" Kevin asked.
"She's having a bit of an internal crisis," Dean said, rubbing his neck, "with the realization that the angels and demons that she kills are inside innocent people. Most hunters hit this problem at some point. She'll come around."
"It's kinda shitty that your idea of a solution is her accepting the slaughtering of innocent people," Kevin grimaced.
"Unfortunately, it's true," Sam sighed.
"Maybe she'll just decide to abstain from killing people," Charlie shrugged.
"I doubt it," Dean shook his head, "Even if she did, she'd toss it out the window the moment someone hurt Cas. You should've seen her at the warehouse when she killed all of those angels. I don't think she was even in control of herself."
"She must feel pretty awful," Charlie said sadly.
"Yeah, she seems to have caught the Winchester illness," Sam frowned.
"What illness?" Dean asked.
"The one where we all hate ourselves, obviously..." Castiel said.
"That's so stupid," Charlie huffed, "You guys are amazing. You've saved the world so many times! Like I get that your life sucks sometimes but I don't see why that should be a reflection on you guys. Do the people who you've saved not matter just because of the people you couldn't? Jesus Christ…." Dean opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off, "Nope. No arguing. There is nothing new that you can say to me to make me change my mind. I know everything. I read the books."
Dean sighed, "Fine. Whatever. Can we just talk about what we found?"
Katrina ran her hand over the smooth top of a young girl's head. She was asleep, and her parents were nowhere in sight. It was hard for Katrina to imagine being a parent and not constantly being at your child's side when they were this sick. The girl had a brain tumor, and Katrina could sense just how weak her lifeforce had become. It pulsed with the softness of a butterfly's wings. She closed her eyes and healed her, marvelling at the light that was growing brighter and brighter. She felt the girl stir beneath her, her eyes fluttering open.
"Daddy…?" the girl croaked.
"He's not here right now… sorry."
"Who are you?"
Katrina smiled at her, "My name is Katrina, and I'm here to make you better."
"Like a doctor?"
"Even better than a doctor. What's your name?"
"Alice."
"Alright Alice, how long do you wish your hair was?"
The girl self consciously ran a hand over her hairless head, "I don't know… I just wish I could have hair again."
"But if you could grow hair again, how long would you make it?"
"If I could…" a small smile played on the girls lips, "I would grow it down to my knees!"
Katrina laughed, "Okay then, get ready," she placed a palm on the girl's forehead. Instantly, hair began to sprout from her previously bald head. It looked very bizarre, but any apprehension Katrina may have had from the strange sight vanished at the sound of Alice's delighted laughter. Joy radiated from her as the hair rushed past her shoulders, a healthy golden brown. Katrina couldn't help but grin along with Alice's giggles as she ran her fingers through her new silky hair. When it started to pool around her on the bed, Katrina took her hand off of the girl's forehead.
"How's that?"
"It's beautiful! Thank you!" Alice cried out. Her cheeks had acquired a healthy rosiness and there was a sparkle in her eyes- something Katrina knew wasn't usually present in children that had been in her condition.
"And do you feel better?"
"I do," the girl nodded enthusiastically, "I don't feel tired anymore! And usually when I wake up, I have to throw up, but I feel fine now!"
"That's good."
"So I'm not sick anymore?"
"Nope, you're healthy as a horse. And you'll live till you're an old lady."
"Daddy promised I'd get a puppy if I got better too," Alice said, excited.
"Well, I hope he has enough money. Because it looks like you're getting one."
"Can you take these tubes and stuff off of me?"
"Sure," Katrina got to work.
"Alice?" Katrina turned to see a man standing in the doorway. He had dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were wrinkled.
"Daddy!" The girl jumped out of her bed and ran at him, throwing her arms around him.
The man stared down at her in disbelief, his hand moving to her hair and tugging on a piece of it.
"Ow Daddy that hurts!"
"How…?"
"Katrina made me better!" The girl turned to look at Katrina, but she was gone.
Katrina couldn't stay and talk to the girl's father. What would she tell him? That she was an angel? That was the opposite of the truth.
It felt good to heal people again though. She didn't feel too much like a monster anymore. As long as she kept doing good deeds, that would balance it out, right? It wasn't as if she was just killing innocent people for fun… It had to be done. God, she hated trying to justify murder. She kind of wished that she was like the Winchesters. They didn't have to worry about the morality of it all. It was something they had been doing for their whole lives.
Speaking of which, now seemed like a good time to check out those books Charlie had been talking about. Though she would admit that part of her desire to read them was out of entertainment, it would be a good way to see what she was really getting into.
"Shifters?" Sam said incredulously, "What on Earth does Metatron want with shifters?"
"Beats me," Dean shrugged.
"Well," Castiel said, "Obviously none of the angels want anything to do with him. He's probably just taking help where he can get it. I wouldn't put it past him to make a slew of false promises to get them on his side. He might have convinced him that he now has dominion over heaven, and that he can offer them a place there after they die instead of purgatory."
"Can he?"
"Definitely not. One would have to rewrite heaven's entire makeup to allow such abominations inside. He may have the power to open and close heaven's doors, but he can't change what they allow in."
The room fell silent as the majority of the group came to a mutual realization. When they all died and went to heaven, if they went to heaven, Katrina wouldn't be there with them. If she was killed, she would go to purgatory. The thought struck Castiel and Dean the most, given that they had been in purgatory themselves. Castiel shuddered, imagining Katrina in that place that was made up of blood and trees and dirt and fear. Sam wondered if he was enough of an abomination that he would have to join her there.
No one spoke much for a while after that.
After sitting in uncomfortable silence in the library for too long, Sam had the sudden urge to go outside. It was dusk, and the music of crickets filled the air. His mind wandered aimlessly as he walked through the woods, no particular destination in mind. He stopped at a random tree, picking at the bark.
"You have got to be kidding me…" came a mutter from above him. Sam jumped, going into a defensive position until he recognized the blonde haired girl sitting on a branch.
"Katrina?"
"Yeah Sam?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm reading… and being pissed off, currently."
"What's wrong?"
"You Winchesters and your condemnation of all things even remotely associated with monsters."
"Oh…" Sam looked around for a branch to get a hold on.
"Like seriously, you find a way to exorcise demons without killing the people they're possessing and Dean's first reaction is to flip a shit, which I guess isn't all that surprising, but then you went along with him! And then they were gunna kill you over it? These angels are fucking dicks."
Sam made his way up the tree, "There was more to it than that. The main reason I ended up seeing that it was wrong was because it had become addicting, to the point where I was having horrible withdrawal symptoms. Stuff that does that to you is never good. Then, it turned out that Ruby was tricking me the whole time, and that all that blood was to prepare me for being possessed by Lucifer…"
"Damnit Sam!"
"What?"
"Spoilers!"
"Sorry…"
"Ugh, so Ruby's a bad guy then?"
"Yep."
"So that means she probably dies. Of course. I'm sorry, it must really suck."
"What must suck?" Sam pulled himself up onto the branch Katrina was sitting on.
"The fact that basically everyone you sleep with dies. I'm pretty sure your dick is bad luck."
Sam laughed, "Tell me about it."
"The werewolf girl made me cry."
"Yeah… me too…" Sam said quietly.
"Sorry…" Katrina frowned, she shouldn't have said that, "Charlie was right. Sometimes it's hard to remember that this isn't just a book."
Sam shrugged, wanting to move forward. "So your opinion of me hasn't been tarnished yet?"
"Nope, you're my favorite character so far."
"Really? Not Cas?"
"Not yet. Castiel's being an asshole. I'm glad he's better now."
Sam wondered what she would say about Castiel's and Dean's relationship development. Was the obvious tension between them as obvious in the books as it was in real life? He supposed he would have to wait and see.
"How did you even find me Sam? I didn't tell anyone I was out here. I wasn't talking out loud too much was I?"
"Actually, I wasn't even looking for you. I was just kinda wandering around aimlessly. You scared the shit out of me when you started talking."
"Hmm… I wonder if it's because of our weird connection thing. Maybe you're just drawn to me," Katrina smirked teasingly.
"Which you never told me was going to happen by the way. Rude."
"Well I didn't know either! I didn't expect your damage to be so bad that I would have to use my own grace-type stuff to stitch and staple you up. And then after that I thought that it would just stop being attached to me or something! Apparently I was mistaken. I'm like elasti-girl over here. I can literally feel it stretching when we're far apart. Like some sort of weird corny teen romance novel. Gross."
"Well, Dean and Cas have their profound bond. Why can't we have ours?"
"Well I haven't 'gripped you tight and raised you from perdition'" Katrina snorted. Did Castiel even know how sexual that sounded? She supposed not, it was Castiel after all.
"Yeah, I guess not. I also don't have your handprint branded onto my body."
"Dean doesn't still have that, does he?"
"Nah, I think it healed a long time ago."
"Damn, I would've loved teasing him about that."
"I bet you would."
"So you guys just don't keep scars or something? I'd expect you guys to be a bit rougher around the edges with all this hunting stuff."
"We used to have tons, but then Cas came around. When he heals you, he heals just about everything, including scars."
"Oh," Katrina closed the book, her concentration broken. They sat there in silence. Katrina could tell there was something on Sam's mind that he wanted to talk about, but didn't know how to bring up. "Just spit it out Sam."
"Huh?"
"You want to talk about something, I can tell. What is it?"
"Oh… uhm… I was just wondering, have you ever considered trying to become human again?"
"What? No. Why?"
"Well… You said you were worried about living forever while Cas died as a human… That problem would be solved if you were human too… Not to mention… even if you are killed and die, you won't go to heaven."
"I won't?"
"No… you'll go to purgatory."
"Oh… yeah." Katrina had forgotten about that. "Is it bad down there?"
"You'll read about it in the book."
"What about if I get Castiel's grace back? I don't see why that isn't an option still."
"It is, I guess. But if you're both killed, you won't be heaven together then either."
"Where do angels go when they die then?"
"We don't actually know. It doesn't seem like they go anywhere. They just… die."
Katrina frowned. She didn't know which was worse, knowing you were bound for monsterland, or that there was just nothing.
"How would I even become human?"
"I don't know… maybe you have a grace that can be taken out too?"
Katrina pulled her knees up, resting her forehead on them, "Ugh… What did I get myself into Sam?"
"I ask myself the same thing every day. Although, I guess I didn't really have much of a choice."
"Nah, you always have a choice. You just always chose to save people. The ones you love, and the rest of us."
"I guess."
The sun had finally fled completely beneath the horizon, the last traces of red and orange fading away.
"Then again… I don't even know that I'll be going to heaven."
"What? Why would you say that?" Katrina asked incredulously.
"I don't know. The angels called me an abomination, maybe there's not enough human in me to get me into heaven."
"I thought we had already discussed that you were human."
"As far as you can tell. For all I know, my soul has been tainted beyond repair, if not literally, it might be in the eyes of heaven. They may decide not to let me in out of principle. And I have done some really shitty things. If you just take the amount of people I killed directly, it'd be an incredible list, not even including the people I killed indirectly."
"Sam," Katrina said firmly, "Your father made it into heaven. John. Winchester. He's done all of the things that you've done, and more, things like child abuse and neglect, all without your good intentions. You did the things you did to save people, everything your father did was out of a crazed lust for vengeance. You're going to heaven. And if some idiot puts you in hell, I'll raise you out of perdition myself. And if I can't get you to heaven I'll just make you into something like me and we can chill in purgatory together."
"Not everything that I did was out of selflessness you know."
"Yeah, but everyone is allowed to be selfish sometimes. It was makes us human. Or… you human I guess."
"You definitely would have made a good psychologist."
"Thanks," Katrina smiled widely.
"Wanna have a race to the top?" Sam said suddenly.
"What? No. I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not? Afraid you'll lose?"
"No," Katrina snorted, "Because it's too dark for you to see properly, and the only reason this branch hasn't broken underneath your weight is because I've been holding it together myself."
"No way."
"Want me to prove it?"
"No thanks, I'd like to keep my bones unbroken."
"Awww, don't be such a wuss. I'd heal you." She smirked as the branch started making threatening cracking noises.
"Stop that!" Sam yelped, looking for another branch to stand on.
""You're no fun," Katrina sighed.
"Most people wouldn't consider falling out of a tree fun."
"Well I am one of a kind."
"You're a pain in the ass."
"Your words cut deep Sam," Katrina said dramatically.
"Come on, we should head back. Cas is probably worried about you."
"He's my boyfriend, not my mom," Katrina rolled her eyes.
"Oh, that's another thing, where's your mother?"
"That's a story for another day. Let's go." She dropped out of the tree, reaching to Sam to fly them out.
"You don't have to fly everywhere just because you can," Sam said, "Let's just walk."
"Does it really feel that weird?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm. It doesn't feel weird to me at all."
"Well you're the one with the wings, so I'd assume not."
"I don't think I really even use my wings to fly. It's weird. It doesn't feel like bird flight, its more like hopping from place to place. I don't flap them continuously, I just push once and go where I need to."
"What's the point in having them then?"
"I don't know… they're pretty…?"
"Are they? Can I see?"
"Castiel says I'm not supposed to…"
"I thought he wasn't your mother."
Katrina reddened, "He said that wings were intimate to angels…"
"Well, you're not really an angel. You don't necessarily have the same interpretations of intimacy. If they don't feel like something private to you, you shouldn't have to hide them."
"I guess… Maybe some day. Definitely not right now. Human shirts aren't designed with wing holes unfortunately, and I don't feel like walking around outside shirtless."
Sam nodded, swallowing and pushing down the path his thoughts were taking before-
"Down boy," Katrina smirked.
Too late.
Now it was Sam's turn to blush. God, she was right. He really was sexually frustrated. He felt like Dean. He had more important things to worry about.
"It's not like I have much to see anyways," Katrina glanced down at her chest.
Sam didn't really know how to respond to that, but luckily they had arrived at the bunker door. Sam fished out the key and let them in.
"Where've you guys been?" Dean asked as they came into the library, "You were gone for a while."
"In a tree," Sam said nonchalantly.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G?" Charlie piped up, an eyebrow raised.
Sam and Katrina both threw her a glare.
"Don't be ridiculous," Katrina snorted.
"Ridiculous? Ouch," Sam quipped.
Katrina rolled her eyes, "I was just reading and making sure the tree didn't break under Sam's enormous body."
"Well, while you two were putzing around," Dean said, "We've been working on how to find Metatron."
"Okay what've you got?"
"Nothing too complex," Charlie said humbly, "We've just got the systems set to look for signs of angels and shifters in the same areas, as well as the facial recognition scan."
"Since apparently Metatron's got himself a pack of shifters, we assumed it might make it easier by narrowing down the search past just fluxes of angel activity. I doubt that both angel activity and shifter activity in the same area are nearly as common."
"Right, that's really smart," Katrina nodded, earning a shocked stare from Dean, "Good job." Despite her earlier eagerness to tease Dean, she had actually decided to a bit nicer to him. She imagined that he wouldn't want her pity, but she found that any previous grudges she had had against him could help but disintegrate completely after reading about his life playing out in pieces. Not just falling to pieces, but being nothing but broken fragments of what a man's life should be. His life hadn't been good enough to ruin since he had been a small child. Not to mention, she still had several books to go. Who knew how much worse it was going to get? Now, she wasn't going to coddle him like a baby, but a bit of appreciation here and there would probably do him some good, and in turn make him treat her a bit more kindly as well. She just needed to slip into the system without causing too much static.
"Katrina?"
"Hmm?" Katrina didn't look up, her eyes fixed on the book in front of her. She and Castiel were settled in bed, but Castiel seemed too restless to sleep.
"You and Sam weren't really… K-I-S-S-I-N-G.. were you?"
Katrina snorted at Castiel's imitation of the childhood rhyme. But then she felt Castiel tense up beside her. She looked up, surprised to see Castiel's face pulled into a small pout.
"You're serious?"
"Obviously."
"Of course we weren't. Why would you think that?"
"Charlie seemed to think that's what you were doing."
"That's just a human thing that you don't know about. It's a little rhyme that children use to tease each other whenever they suspect that someone has a crush on someone. 'Sam and Kevin, sittin in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.' It's just a silly little thing. Whenever people hear about two people sitting in a tree, it's usually the first thing that pops into their heads."
This didn't seem to assuage Castiel. "Sam seems to like you… a lot."
"Even if that were true, there's nothing to worry about. Nothing is going on between us. I'm not a cheater."
"I know… I trust you… I don't know how much I trust Sam however…"
"Wow. I can't believe you're jealous," Katrina smiled slightly. Castiel scowled. "Ugh… Come here," Katrina sighed, tossing the book aside. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he sat up reluctantly. She climbed onto his lap, her legs around his waist, resting her forehead against his. "Me and Sam are just friends, if his feelings are anything more than that, it's just because I'm a woman and there aren't really an abundance of those around here. It's not because he has a crush on me or has fallen in love with me or anything like that. When I told him that we were together, he respectfully stepped back a bit. Sam's heart is in the right place, and he wouldn't do that to you, just like I wouldn't." She rubbed her nose back and forwards against his. Castiel relaxed underneath her, his hands sliding up and resting on her back.
"You're right, I'm sorry for overreacting."
"It's no problem. You're only human."
Castiel frowned. Only human.
"Castiel. It's a figure of speech. I'm not saying you're lesser just because you're human." Apparently Castiel was just in a very touchy mood. She pressed her lips against his. When he didn't respond, she nipped at his lower lip. Castiel gasped, pulling back. Katrina grinned at him as he looked at her with an expression of utter bewilderment.
"Biting..?" he murmured, just as confused with the action as he was with the way his body was responding. His breath had shallowed and his heart's pace was picking up.
Katrina chuckled, "Biting." She dragged her teeth along his jawline to his ear, biting lightly on his earlobe. The shudders that ran through Castiel felt like an earthquake.
His grip went from relaxed to a rough hold as he pulled her flush against him. Katrina giggled, sending a flash of something animalistic through Castiel's veins. He flipped her over onto her back, not very gently at all, causing her to squeal briefly in surprise. She stared up at him, her lips parted and her eyes hooded in anticipation.
Perhaps being "only human" wasn't so bad afterall.
