Chapter 10: This Is The World

Dean swore, his adrenaline production gradually slowing to a stop. "Damn it, Cas! You can't do that!"

The man looked confused. "But, Dean, I always do that."

Sophie looked over at Dean, clearly less shocked about his state of undress than the fact that he seemed to know this strange, trench-coated apparition. "You and the dude who just…literally appeared out of freaking nowhere seem pretty chummy," she said, lowering the lamp slowly and setting it back down on the bedside table. "Care to explain who the hell he is?"

Dean was lost for words. How did he explain what Cas was to her without confusing her already rapidly changing view of the world? "Um…"

"I am Castiel, an angel of the Lord," Cas announced, staring at Sophie intently. He then looked at Dean with a harsh, judgmental glare. "She's just a child, Dean. Do you have no discretion?"

Sophie scrunched up her nose in disgust as Dean grew visibly frustrated. "No, Cas, she's not a hooker, she's…well, she's….she's…"

"Dean and Sam saved me from a vampire. And then from a demon. And they're currently trying to save me from a hoard of angry monsters," Sophie cut in. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. Did you say you were an angel?"

"Correct," Cas said. He turned to give Dean an apologetic glance. "Sorry, Dean, I just figured with you being in a motel and unclothed near this girl—"

"Of the Lord?" Sophie interrupted, clearly unwilling to see the subject change, her face a mask of pure astonishment.

"We're still working on the validity of that statement," Cas admitted.

Sophie looked over at Dean. "Angels? Seriously?"

"It's a strange world out there, kiddo," Dean offered apologetically. He looked over at Cas. "Why the hell are you here, Cas? I didn't call you."

"No," Cas said. "Your brother did."

"Sam prayed to you?" Dean replied, confused. Praying to Cas was sort of his thing. "Why would he do that?"

"I wasn't picking it up all too clearly, there's been a bit of a disconnect between heaven and earth recently, I'm not sure why," Castiel said, taking a few steps closer to Sophie, who just looked stunned. "From what I heard, he had something he needed help hiding."

It all began to make sense to Dean. And for once, he needed to commend his brother. Before he could say anything, the door to the room opened, and Sam walked in, three coffees in hand. When he closed the door and saw the scene before him, he groaned. "He scared her, didn't he?"

"Screamed bloody murder," Dean replied.

He nodded, and after a moment an amused look appeared on his face. "Nice skirt," he remarked, gesturing towards Dean's towel.

Dean, seeming to realize he was still standing, soaking wet, in the middle of the room, gave Sam a furious look and strode back into the bathroom, slamming the door, and reemerging about twenty seconds later wearing jeans and pulling on a gray undershirt. Sophie was now fully relaxed, but her eyes were narrow.

"Am I the something that you need help hiding?" she asked Sam bitterly.

Sam nodded, setting the coffees down on the table. "Not in the sense that you think though," he said. "Cas, can't you do some kind of…angelic cloaking thing on Sophie to keep all of these monsters away from her?"

Cas looked thoughtful. "I can render her undetectable from demons and some creatures, provided they don't have her scent."

Dean started to feel hopeful. "Only one vampire had her scent, and he's dead."

Cas nodded. "That's good. Well, there's something I can do, but…."

Sophie could practically feel the hesitation. "What?"

"It would be…excruciatingly painful for you," he said. "It involves a soul touch."

Dean was already shaking his head. "No. No way. You've said it yourself, soul touches are basically always fatal."

Cas shook his head. "Only if they're being used to harvest power from the soul. I'm not doing that, I'm just using the existing power to cloak her."

Dean looked over at Sam. "We're not making her do that. We can protect her well enough on our own."

"Don't I get a say?" Sophie challenged, stepping forward. "I don't want to be your burden for the rest of my life. If this is the best way to keep monsters away from me, why shouldn't we do it?"

Dean looked aggravated. "You've clearly never had an angel mess around with your insides. When he says it's painful, he's not kidding."

"More painful than being ripped apart by vampires and demons and whatever else is apparently out in the world?" she exclaimed, stepping out from her corner and staring at Dean face to face. "I might be new to this whole monster thing, and there's clearly a lot I still don't know about, but if there's one thing I do know it's that I won't let myself get killed. If this is what it takes, I'm doing it."

Dean looked over at Sam for back up, but he just shrugged. "Dude, it sucks, but she's right."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "She's fifteen, Sam. Fifteen. At fifteen you were still crying over broken pinkies."

"She's tougher than I was," Sam said. "We already stitched her up in the hotel room and she barely made a sound."

Castiel looked up at that, turning to Sophie. "You've been injured?"

"Try kidnapped and tortured by a sadistic vampire," Dean offered, his blood boiling just at the memory.

Cas walked over to Sophie, looking at her carefully. She was surprised at how Castiel made her feel, a strange combination of calm, safe, and wildly intimidated. His eyes were steady and held a touch of concern as he asked, "Would it be okay if I saw your injuries?"

Silently, she nodded. She shrugged off the jacket she was wearing and turned to show Cas the hand-stitched stab wound on her shoulder.

"And the bandage on your neck?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Almost forgot," she replied nervously, swiping her hair to the side and gently peeling off the bandage, which revealed jagged fang holes.

Cas was silent for a moment. "I can heal those, if you want."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded and closed his eyes, touching two fingers to her forehead. She seemed to shimmer for a moment, and then he removed his hand and opened his eyes. Her mouth fell open, and she immediately lifted a hand to her neck and then to her shoulder. Smooth skin rested where gaping wounds had once, and the signature Winchester stitching was gone. All of the other cuts and bruises on her body had seemed to vanish as well. "Oh my God," she breathed. "You are an angel."

"I am," he confirmed matter-of-factly. "And I can promise you that if you let me cloak you, despite the pain, it will work."

She nodded, finding a new resolve within herself. "I want you to do it. But first we need to check on Patrick."

"Patrick?" he asked questioningly, thrown off by her demand.

"Her friend," Dean commented.

"Where does he live?" Cas inquired. "I can check on him in just a moment."

"It's not just him we need to check on," Sam added. "It's her stepfather, too."

"I just need a name and a city," Cas said.

Both of the brothers turned to look at Sophie, who was still marveling at her healed body. "Apex, North Carolina," she said, still entranced. "Patrick Little."

"Your stepfather's name is Patrick, too?" Cas asked.

"Oh. No. His name is Steve."

Cas nodded, and then he disappeared.

Sophie looked up at Dean and Sam. "I haven't been drugged, have I?"

"Not to my knowledge," Dean replied.

"So this is real."

"I'm afraid so," Sam said.

Sophie shook her head. "So this is the world. Angels and demons and everything in between and" –she gestured to the two brothers— "…modern day Scooby Doo."

Dean looked offended. "We're called hunters, for future reference."

"You have the world's most unique job and you call yourselves hunters?" she asked in disbelief. "How boring."

Before Dean could respond, Cas reappeared in the room.

And he was drenched in blood.

More to come soon! Favorite, follow, comment! Thanks a million! ~ Lacey :)