Sam's POV

Dean, Marina, and I decided we would start researching mer while we waited for Castiel to show up. Dean wanted to use the internet, but I knew how fast Dean would be able to "research" while actually looking for porn, so I vetoed that pretty quick. Plus, Marina said she'd already scoured the internet and hadn't found anything new or interesting, at least about mer, so we hit the stacks, looking for any book that could possibly contain information on her dad's species.

I had to admit, there wasn't much. Mostly general mythology that happened to mention mermaids, and most of that was highly inaccurate, according to Marina. "We do like pretty things, though. Most of the mer are hoarders. Remember Ariel's grotto in Disney's The Little Mermaid? Totally true. I used to have a fork collection," she told me, looking over my shoulder as she brought more books to the table. When she let them fall, a small cloud of dust flew up, and she coughed.

"Where did you find those?" I asked. They looked pretty old, all uneven parchment pages and leather-bound.

"In the back, near the classical mythology section. I thought I'd see if they had anything on Poseidon, Triton, or Neptune. If anyone knew about the mer, it would be them." She sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face and leaning forward, putting her hands on the table. "I have a feeling these books aren't going to be in English, though. You got Google translate up on that computer of yours?" she asked, popping up out of her chair and looking over my shoulder again.

I smiled. "I've got something better. Did you ever watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Of course. But what do vampires have to do with mermaids?"

"Nothing. But do you remember when they were scanning books into the library system and accidentally uploaded a demon onto the internet? It was around season one or two, pretty early on," I said.

"Yeah! That was a weird one. Didn't the machine translate the handwriting, so it was technically reading the document, which is what released the demon in the first place?" she asked.

I smiled. "Yup. Well, I actually got some software that does the same thing awhile ago, after I was looking through the library and realized I wouldn't be able to read half of these books if my life depended on it. That should make it go a lot faster."

"You're kidding! Sam, that's great!" She squeezed my shoulder, bouncing on her toes in her excitement. She hurried back over to the stack of books she'd brought over. "I think this one is in Greek. But," she flipped the pages, wrinkling her brow, "it also looks like some Hebrew and Latin got tossed in here, as well. Do you think we'd be able to translate all of it in one go, or do we have to scan it once for each language?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. I guess we won't know until we try, though." I reached out my hands for the large tome. She started to hand it over, then pulled it back. I looked up, confused.

"Where's Dean? I haven't seen him in awhile. Shouldn't we tell him about this?"

"You're right. Dean!" I yelled, leaning back in my chair and craning my neck, hoping to see his form in between all the books. I heard some scuffling, then a muffled, "Yeah?" from the other side of the shelves. "C'mere, we think we found something."

He hurried over. "What is it? Anything new?"

"I can't read Greek or Latin very well, but I know what Poseidon and Neptune's names look like when I see them," Marina piped up. "These books are chock full of references to both of them, but other than that, I have no idea what else could be in here. Sam has some translating software that should be able to make it so we can read whatever's written here." She bounced a little again, obviously happy we were making progress in our search. "Did you find anything interesting, Dean?" she asked hopefully.

"Nah, just a bunch of stuff that we already knew or was bogus. Not much, really."

"Darn. Well...we've been at this for a couple hours now. Are you guys getting hungry, or is it just me?"

A couple of hours? Wow, it was almost two in the afternoon. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until she mentioned it, but I was suddenly ravenous. "Yeah, I could eat something. How about you, Dean?"

"Aw, y'know me. I'm always hungry. You know your way around a kitchen, Marina? We'd both be happy to help if you need it," Dean offered.

"No, I'm fine. Just point me to the fridge and I'll whip something up for us while you guys catch up on the lore. Let me know if you have any questions that you think I can answer, alright?" Dean told her where the kitchen was, and we started in the thick books on the table. It was going to be a long day.

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Marina's POV

Let's see what two single men in their thirties have in their cupboards, shall we? I said to myself. Bread, peanut butter, frozen burritos, lunch meat, raw hamburger, bagged salad mixes, a couple bottles of dressing, a few fresh fruits and veggies...they were actually pretty well-stocked. I quickly made a few turkey-and-cheese grilled sandwiches on the stove and put some baby carrots on the side of each plate. I stepped back and surveyed my handiwork. Iron chef material I am not, but at least my sandwiches were OK.

I took a plate in each hand and one on my forearm (I was careful not to let anything drop). Sam was looking back and forth between the book and his computer screen, and Dean was standing up from looking over his shoulder. "I got nothing. Honestly, I've never heard anything like that. And what's with the mixing of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew? It's like some theology student got bored and wrote a bunch of mumbo-jumbo."

"Not going so well, boys?" I asked, setting the plates down and taking a bite out of my sandwich. Sam sighed.

"No. It translated it all in one go, which was nice. But I have absolutely no idea what any of it means. Listen to this:

When a son of Poseidon and a daughter of Gaia shall come together, the fruit of their union will be the Mercy of Yahweh. The Mercy of Yahweh will walk among both angels and demons, but not belong to either of them. Both angels and demons have turned their backs on the Mercy of Yahweh. Not so with the sons of man. The Mercy of Yahweh will serve Artemis and guide the sons of men into battle against both Paradise and Sheol, and they shall emerge victorious. However, Victory comes at a terrible price: after the battle is won, never again shall the Mercy of Yahweh lead mankind, for there shall no longer be a need for the Mercy of Yahweh.

"Seriously. That's what it says. I mean, the mixed mythologies are enough as it is: the Judeo-Christian god Yahweh, interspersed with Greek gods and goddesses. Not to mention "the mercy of Yahweh" is one word, almost like a name. And what the heck is a son of Poseidon, or for that matter, a daughter of Gaia? And the Latin bit thrown in there about angels and demons...I wouldn't even know where to start." He shook his head.

I was about to say that I was confused as hell, too. I mean, seriously: who thought up that passage? But before I could, I heard a door above creak open and a deep voice say, "Dean, this had better be important. I tire easily without my wings, and I was quite a distance away." A dark-haired man in a tan trench coat appeared at the top of the balcony and looked down. I already had my gun in my hand, ready to fire, but when he mentioned the wings, I took a closer look.

"You Castiel?" I asked, gun still trained on the man's chest.

"Yes. I am Castiel. Please put the gun away. I may be without my wings, but I am still an angel. A gun would be useless if you decided to engage me in combat." I lowered my arms and Dean shot me a glare.

"Please try not to threaten our guests when they enter the bunker," Sam remarked to me drily as Castiel descended the stairs, coming towards us. "We have so few visitors as it is." I smiled at that as I holstered my gun.

"Cass, it's good to see you, buddy," Dean said as he wrapped his arms around the man with the trench coat and stubble in a bear hug. It was returned, although not as enthusiastically. So "Cass" wasn't much of a hugger. Shocker.

"I missed being in your presence as well, Dean. However, that is not why I have come. You said that you had something I should see here?"

Dean laughed a little, running one hand through his hair and sticking the other in his back pocket. "Actually, it's someone. Castiel, I'd like you to meet Marina. She's...a new addition to Team Free Will, actually."

"Hello, Castiel. It's nice to finally meet you in person," I said, holding out my hand. He didn't take it. After about 15 seconds of awkward silence, I pulled it back. "Okay...awkward." I laughed nervously. He seemed to be studying me: not frowning, exactly, but not smiling, either. When he finally spoke, it was very slowly.

"What...are you?" he asked, stepping rather close. The blood rushed from my face as I realized he knew I wasn't fully human. I backed away slowly, tripping over a chair leg and falling on my ass rather ungracefully (is there a graceful way to fall on your ass?). Sam stepped in front of me, blocking Castiel's view of me, and mine of him. I got up and dusted myself off, but made no move to get in front of Sam again. When you have a voluntary human shield that big, you tend to take what you can get. I peeked around him to see what was going on, though.

"Cass, what the hell? That was totally rude! You scared her!" Dean protested, pulling on said angel's arm.

"Did I say something inappropriate, Dean? She is not human, angel, or demon; you must have realized that by now."

"Yeah, we know she's not human, Cass. That doesn't give you the right to get in her space and make her uncomfortable. Plus...she'...kinda rare," Sam explained. "Technically, it's against the laws of her people (well, some of them) for her to even exist. Of course she's scared that you see right through her carefully-built façade." He sighed, and Castiel looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

"I am truly sorry for causing you to fear me, Marina. That was not my intention at all. Please accept my sincere apology." He looked into my eyes as he said this, and I could see the honesty and innocence there. He was only curious and I couldn't blame him for that. He did make me nervous, though. I bit my lip, then stepped out from behind Sam (though I stayed close).

"Apology totally accepted. I'm just a little...jumpy lately. Can we start over?" He nodded. "I'm Marina, and I already know you are Castiel. It's nice to finally meet you." I held out my hand again. This time, he took it, though I still felt like a sample under a microscope when he looked at me.

"It is an honor to make your aquaintance, Marina. I would still like my original question answered, though. I agree with Sam: you are indeed rare, so rare that I do not recognize your species. This puzzles me greatly, as I have lived for eons and never come across one of your kind on this world, or any other for that matter. I am curious; that is all. You may rest assured that I will keep your secret safe. I simply wish to understand."

I smiled. "I "wish to understand" as well. My father was mer and my mother was human, so I guess I'm technically a new species, unless there are other hybrids out there that I don't know about. As far as I know, I'm the only one." He looked down at my legs, obviously confused about my current lack of tail. "I only have a tail when my lower body is submerged in water."

"Yup. Freakin' dolphin tail all the way up to her waist." That was Dean. "One of the coolest things I've ever seen, by the way," he added, looking at me. I smiled. It was a nice change to not have to hide a part of myself all of the time.

"That is very interesting. I am glad I had the chance to meet you. Dean called and said that I was needed, though. I fail to see what for," he said, turning to speak to Dean once more.

"Oh, that. See, Marina remembers facts and stuff that she's not sure how she knows. Like symbols and stuff that are super old and no one should be able to remember them. She has no idea how she knows them; she just does."

"And the boys were wondering if you would mind poking around in my head to see what you can find: y'know, suppressed memories, past lives, things like that. I don't mind, actually. I would prefer if you kept most of what you saw to yourself, though. I'd...rather not share my all my secrets just yet. No offense, guys," I said, turning to the brothers, "but there's some things I don't share with anyone if I can help it. Would you mind?" I asked, turning back to Castiel and waiting to see his reaction.

He thought for a moment. "No, I do not think I would mind. I will need to make you unconscious in order to fully access your memories. Perhaps you should find a comfortable place to lie down before we begin."

I thought for a moment. "Would my room be alright? I'm sure the boys could bring in a chair for you to sit in or something while you work."

"Your room should be sufficient for our needs. Please, lead the way. Dean, could you bring me a chair?"