Hello my favorite people! Sorry it's been a while... The past week has been hectic for me! Nevertheless, here is the next chapter! And, as reward for your wait, extra extra long chapter! It sure took a lot of grueling my mind to write... I had a bit of writer's block. Anyway, hope you enjoy! :)

xxxxxxx

Sam walked into the room and quickly glanced at both Arya and Dean to make sure they were safe and sound like they had been when he had left to get some water from the vending machine five minutes ago. It was a hunter habit to constantly check like that – very necessary in his line of work, of course – and when he was satisfied, he tossed a bottle to each of them. Arya opened hers as she leaned back in the chair and put her feet up on the table, and Dean sighed and propped himself up on the bed. "Thanks," Arya said, at the same time Dean said, "So… anyone come up with anything?"

Sam snorted. "I was out of ideas three hours ago, Dean." Sam glanced questioningly at Arya, who shrugged.

"Same here. Come on, guys, you're the ones supposed to be smart hunters. All I've figured out so far is that there's a dead mouse in the cabinet there," she said boredly, pointing up at the cabinets above the television.

Dean looked where she was pointing, shuddered, then leaned back again. "All I can think about is that if we had the Seeker, and we could talk to her and get her to… to suck up her all her mojo or whatever, we would actually stand a chance," he said wistfully.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "But since when do the odds ever fall in our favor?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Maybe…" Arya started saying, then stopped.

"Maybe what?" Sam asked curiously. Even though she was still as energetic as the average kid, compared to her regular self, she had been oddly subdued since they'd found her in the park.

"I was just thinking… You guys told me how the last Seeker went abusive with his power, right?" Arya said slowly. "Maybe… I mean, it's possible that this one didn't take on the full power because maybe she didn't want to… I don't know, go evil?" She looked up at the brothers' faces thoughtfully.

"Could be," Dean mentioned after a few moments of thinking on what she had said. "But… I don't know, it seems kinda far-fetched. I mean, who wouldn't accept – what is it, 'more power than God and the angels combined'? And immortality?" Dean shook his head decisively. "Nah, nobody's meant to have that kind of power. I don't think it matters what she does, she'll go bad just like the other one."

Sam didn't miss the way Arya seemed to cringe slightly at Dean's words. "As you get older, you'll start to realize that not everyone can be good people, Arya," Sam said kindly, admiring how she was empathetic for anyone. "But you could be right. Maybe she's actually trying to stay sane and reasonable," Sam thought out loud.

Dean snorted. "If she is, kudos to her. I just hope Cas can find her, and then we can do some talking. She can't just sit this out and let everyone die, not when she can fix things," he spoke passionately. There was a loud pop behind them, and Dean turned around, saying, "And speak of the devil. Cas-"

Dean grunted as the wind was knocked out of him, and he and Sam went flying to the other side of the room.

"I am not Castiel," muttered the well-dressed blonde man who had just appeared, with a voice that wasn't as deep or as kind as Castiel's voice. "I am Ereziel." He glanced coldly at Arya, who had frozen in her chair but somehow had not flown to the wall. Her eyes were calculating, but Dean also noticed fear in her eyes for the first time. Ereziel flicked his hand again, curiously watching her, but then nodded, satisfied when she flew over to where Sam and Dean were stuck on the wall.

"Nice of you to join us," Dean murmured to her as she winced in pain. Next to him, Sam stared up defiantly at Ereziel, who was slowly walking over to them. Dean quickly glanced at Arya again, and muttered, "Stay quiet. Don't draw attention to yourself. I don't want you getting hurt." Arya surprised him by nodding silently.

"You're an angel," Sam concluded loudly, staring down the man. "What the hell do you want?" Sam sneaked a glance at Dean worriedly, and they both thought the same thing. How the heck did he find us with our Enochian symbols warding us from their sight?

Ereziel glared at him. "It's more of a question of what I don't want." He had now neared them so that his gray eyes were a foot away from theirs. "You two apes messing around with things too big for you." He focused his gaze on Dean. "Which is exactly what you are already doing," he spat.

"We're just trying to save the planet," Dean replied angrily. "Given that you and all your other angelic friends are too busy with crap of your own, we tend to be the guys who have to fix everything. So I'm sorry-" Dean said with a mocking expression, "-that we're actually doing our job, but why don't you just leave us to our own business?"

Ereziel flicked his hand again, and Dean winced as an invisible hand punched him in the gut. "You Winchesters are known for talking about things you can't even begin to understand," he said quietly, each word enunciated and filled with dislike. "But it's really quite annoying to hear you do it in person." He flicked his hand again and nodded with satisfaction when he heard Dean grunt. "As you should know by now, given that the traitor Castiel is informing you, no angels can go near Chaos. We are doing everything we can to stop him from rising." He turned his head slightly, as if studying the Winchesters' brain capacity, and said, "You must realize that if he rises, it will be far worse than the apocalypse. He is far more powerful and evil than our fallen brother Lucifer, and he will turn your planet into a wasteland." Sam opened his mouth to make a retort, but his voice was silenced by a swipe of the angel's hand. Ereziel glared at him. "I do not take kindly to those who interrupt," he spoke vehemently. He paused, then he continued talking. "That is why I – along with all my other brothers who are searching for a way to stop him – are confused as to why you apes are making this situation much worse by poking your little heads in. We are, for once in a change, seemingly on the same side for now."

"Well," Dean spluttered, managing to regain his ability to speak, "Let's just say we aren't really fans of how you douches "fix" things. Like, uh, killing half the population to satisfy a crappy prophecy, for example. So yeah, we're poking our heads in, but we're gonna save every single person we can," he stated boldly.

"You do not understand," Ereziel replied angrily. "You two are angering Chaos and inflaming the problem. Chaos needs to be dealt with respect and caution. The more you taunt and challenge him, the worse off your human population will be. We will fix this in our own time and using the best method to preserve as many angel lives as we can. Yes, there will be casualties, but as you have so proved over the centuries, humans can repopulate fast enough," he uttered disgustedly.

"That's where we see things differently," Dean replied. "You guys always try to save your feathery asses by killing all of us down here. We won't let you do that."

Ereziel breathed heavily, and the invisible chains tightened around the brothers' limbs. Sam cried out in pain, but suddenly the chains loosened and he could breathe. He looked quickly at Dean and the angel, but his brother was still being constricted, though not as badly, and Ereziel was still furious, his hand was still clenched and pointing at them both. How the hell… Sam wondered. He glanced to his side and saw Arya's frightened, wide eyes searching him to see if he was ok. He nodded reassuringly, still wondering why he could breathe, then looked up sharply as the angel began to speak.

"I am done here. I have done as my orders told me to do. We have warned you. If you continue to meddle, you will be obliterated. We are not as powerless on earth as you might believe," he muttered ominously.

"Yeah, come near us and risk getting turned evil if we're near Chaos? I don't think so," Sam pointed out. Ereziel gave Sam the darkest look an angel could ever have, and with a gust of wind, he disappeared. Immediately, Sam, Dean, and Arya fell to the ground as their chains were released. Sam looked at Dean worriedly, and after a second of unspoken understanding, they both briskly walked over to their bags, took out spray cans, and started painting warding symbols on the windows. Arya shakily climbed onto the chair.

"First of all: what the hell?" Dean asked after tossing the now empty can into the bag.

"I know," Sam agreed as he continued to spray another Enochian symbol on the wall. "How the heck did he find us?"

"You… you still have your Enochian symbol on you, right?" Dean asked, as he checked to feel if his was still there.

"Yeah, of course. Do they just… stop working after some time? Or…"

"No man, they've been working for this whole time, so I don't see why they'd stop now…" He trailed off as he saw Arya quietly sitting in the chair. "Arya? You ok?" he asked concernedly.

"Uh…" she stuttered, then she shook her head and got out of her trance. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. I just… Wow. That was…" She couldn't find the words to finish.

"Yeah, I know. You get used to crashing into walls after a while," Sam said kindly. A thought occurred to him, and he looked at Dean curiously. "You don't think they found Chaos and then just saw us around him and traced us back here?" he asked him.

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, that could be it." He glanced at Arya again, and then said, "Seriously, do you want some coffee or something? You look like you almost died."

Arya glared at him. "Dean. I almost did."

Sam chuckled. "No, angels only kill those who they think are too powerful or who get in their way. Unfortunately, we seem to get in their way –"

"We have a kinda bad habit of doing that," Dean interjected lightly, and Arya smiled.

"And you're neither of those," Sam continued, "so you're fine."

Arya snorted at that. "Yeah, you're right. I feel so safe right now." The brothers chuckled at that statement. "So," she said seriously. "All those threats he said… You guys are gonna stay out of their way now, right?"

Sam spat out the water he was drinking, and Dean had to hit him heavily on the back amidst his own laughter. "Arya," Dean chortled as Sam recovered. "Rule number one: We never listen to anyone. Not angels, not other hunters… Hell, most of the time we don't even listen to each other," Dean admitted, nodding to Sam. "Given our experience and what Ereziel just said, if we had let those dicks fix things when the world went wrong, there would be no more humans. They don't give a damn about us, so we gotta fix things and make sure that people don't get hurt."

"Saving people and hunting things," Sam said. "The family business. The only problem, though," he continued saying, "is that we don't know how to hunt this Chaos."

Dean let out a big breath. "I could call Cas. I should do that anyway, he's been gone long enough."

"Uh…" Arya started to point out. "Am I the only one noticing that you guys just painted angel warding symbols all over the room?" she asked.

Dean blinked. "Oh, right. I'll go outside, then."

Sam smirked. "Yeah, Dean. Go take it outside."

Dean glared at him, but then turned to look at Arya as she mentioned, "I'm gonna leave now."

"Why?" Sam asked curiously. "You were all into it a few hours ago."

Arya rolled her eyes. "Exactly. Hours ago. Anyway, I've had enough of angels for a lifetime," she said lightly, but her eyes betrayed her concern.

"Arya, Cas is a good guy. He's been helping us out for years now," Dean told her.

"I'm sure, I'm sure," she replied hurriedly. "I'm still done with angels. See you guys," she said with a smile, and she walked out the door.

Dean turned to look at Sam. "She seem on edge to you?" he asked Sam.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking that since we found her at the park."

"Seriously, though, which teen sleeps in a park? Is that even legal?"

Sam scoffed. "Don't think so. She's definitely hiding something. Probably family issues," he reasoned.

Dean sighed. "Yeah... Come on, Sammy, let's call Cas."

The brothers stepped outside, and Sam sat on the bench by their hotel door as Dean closed his eyes. "Cas?" Dean said quietly. "Please get your feathery behind over here and tell us what you've got…"

No sooner did he say the last word did Cas appear right in front of his eyes, his trench coat fluttering slightly in the wind.

"Dean," Cas acknowledged. "Sam," he said as he turned his head to the younger brother.

"Hey," Sam replied. "So, we were just wondering… Uh, Cas?" he asked. For Cas had ignored him and walked up to the door, tilting his head.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Dean told him apologetically, seeing Cas' gaze go over the symbols on the window.

"It isn't that," Cas said gravely before Dean could explain their encounter with Ereziel. "It's just that…" He held his hand in the air, as if feeling something invisible in the air. "There is a… residual aura lingering in your hotel room. I felt it when I came earlier to give you the necklace wards," he explained. "An aura like this lasts for a while after someone very, very powerful comes near. At first, I just thought my perception was off, because I was dealing with some powerful Paghan gods before I saw you, but it's here again." He looked at Dean questioningly.

"Well," Dean started with a slight shrug. "That's probably our new friend Ereziel! Charming guy, you should meet him."

Sam snorted. "Really powerful angel just dropped by to tell us to mind our own business," he informed Cas.

"Did he also talk to you before I gave you the wards?" Cas asked deeply.

"I wouldn't call it 'talk', and no," Dean admitted. "But… hang on. Does that mean that son of a bitch was spying on us since back then? And that's why this - aura thing - was hanging around back then too?" he asked angrily.

Sam ran his hand through his hair worriedly. "He could've been. I mean, if they knew our location now, they could have known it back then too. And," he said, addressing Cas, "Ereziel certainly seemed strong enough to leave an aura."

"Yes, that's probably it…" Cas nodded, but he did not seem convinced, and his forehead was still constricted in deep thought.

Sam glanced at Dean, gave Cas a minute, and then cleared his throat loudly. "So… anything on the Seeker?" he asked.

Cas continued staring at the ground for a few moments and then pulled his head up. "No," he admitted. "Because she hasn't accepted the full power, her trace blends in with the rest of the angels and gods. But it's not just that," he continued. "It's as if she knows I'm tracking her. I keep getting false leads in places like Taiwan and Iowa. She's throwing me off," he uttered, frustrated.

"How the hell can she do that?" Dean asked him. "I thought she isn't powerful yet."

"She's only taken in a part of the spirit," Cas answered. "But even that tiny, miniscule part has enough power to make her as strong as an angel. The full power is much, much more, but she's already as powerful as I am," Cas explained.

Sam let out a low whistle. "So basically, we're still screwed."

"Pretty much," Dean agreed, and he slumped onto the bench next to Sam. "What the hell are we gonna do?" he asked weakly.

"Well…There's always Crowley," Castiel mentioned after a few moments of thought.

"What?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Sam said, nodding his head, the idea catching on. "Yeah." He turned his gaze towards Dean. "We could force him to help us out with... with a summoning spell," he ventured to say.

Dean stared back blankly. "Are you two out of your mind?" he asked angrily. "We aren't asking Crowley for help. He's the goddamn king of hell!"

"Yeah, Dean, and this is Chaos, an evil entity a hundred times worse than Lucifer! Look, I wouldn't even think this if there was another way, but Dean… we're out of options," Sam said seriously.

"Crowley's help would give you a considerable amount more strength in resistance to fight Chaos," Cas added. "Given that I can't help you, Crowley's power would definitely help fight Chaos, or atleast distract him for a while."

"Well... Well, how do we know Crowley will help us anyway?" Dean spluttered, the unconvinced look still plastered on his face.

"We don't," Castiel admitted. "But I believe it is worth a shot."

Dean stared at the angel for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders. "Alright. But when this plan goes wrong, you gotta clean up the mess," he said tiredly.

xxxxx

Arya broke out of her vision, opened her eyes, and shook her head sadly. Crowley's going to lead them the wrong way, she thought worriedly. And they were getting dangerously close to her trail. Cas wasn't satisfied with the angel explanation for the aura. She could tell that he was doubtful even though she was scrying in on their conversation all the way from her house. She had perfected the technique of reading people weeks ago.

Fat load of good it would do her against Chaos.

Focus, she berated herself. You have less than ten hours to figure out how you're gonna weaken him. She knew she had no chance of trapping him again. That would have to happen later, when she… if she had took in the entire spirit's power, and she was still… herself. Focus, she thought again, concentrating on channeling some power into three blue spheres around her, picturing techniques and strategies in her mind.

Unfortunately, she couldn't keep her mind from wandering back to her friends. When Ereziel had shown up, she had been so frightened that he would realize who she was. Thankfully, he had been too caught up in the moment to look right under his nose, but that was too close. Plus, she was under the constant strain from the warding spell she'd placed on herself so that Cas wouldn't find her, and so she had forgotten about hiding her aura as well. Stupid, she thought. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

"YES, I QUITE AGREE." Chaos' voice rang loudly through her head, causing the blue spheres to vanish and Arya to cringe in pain.

"Get out of my head, Chaos," Arya spat, immediately blocking him out by casting a wall around her mind.

His sigh shook the room, and he popped into view right in front of her.

"Ironic, really," he mused. "You have wards from me now on pretty much everyone in town, and the angel Castiel, and your parents, wherever they are," he uttered slowly. "And yet… no ward from me on yourself. Too much energy consumed already, I assume?" he asked mockingly.

Arya glared at him. Suddenly, without warning, she shot a blast of blue energy straight into his chest. His mocking expression changed to surprise, and he barely blocked it in time, but then he regained his composure and smiled eerily at her. "Yes... Now that's more like it. It would be so much easier for you and more fun for me if you were to say yes to the full spirit, though. Set the stakes higher. Maybe blow up a few monuments," he said with relish.

Arya brought her hands near her side, and a large blue sphere began to form in between them. "I have eight hours left. Give me my eight hours," she replied, her voice dangerously low. She was tired of Chaos taunting her. She was tired of trying to hide herself. She was tired of draining herself of energy to fight evil over and over, and she was definitely tired of putting up with all the crap life kept throwing at her. "Leave now."

Chaos, of course, did not leave, but instead sneered coldly. "Well, look at the Seeker now. Hasn't even taken in the full power and is already fraying at the threads. Mark my words, you'll go more evil than I ever was –"

"GAHHHH!" Arya let out a guttural scream and the sphere of energy went flying, as did every single object in the room. The ground shook and the air burned hot, and Chaos disappeared with a flash of black light. Arya stopped screaming and breathed heavily. After a while, enough adrenaline left her system for her to realize where she was again, and she glanced around her to assess the damage. Damage I've done, she thought wearily, as she noted the broken furniture and scorched walls. All I can do is damage. Hurt, bad, evil, damage.

She fell to her knees and closed her eyes.

xxxxxxx

Phew! So, what do you think? It's all boiling down in eight hours...
I'd love your reviews! :)