So it turns out the Castiel was alive and currently searching for God and Dean and Sam had gone to River Pass, Colorado and fought what they assumed were demons but were actually just humans under the influence of War, The Horseman. Beth had stayed behind with Bobby, refusing to leave the older man's hospital room.

Sam and Dean hadn't said anything but she knew that they knew why she was all-of-a-sudden latching onto Bobby. It was because Bobby had also been possessed and she felt as though he understood—better than Sam and Dean—what she was going through. But she didn't know that Sam had also been possessed by Meg in the past. If she did, she probably would've been more willing to talk to him.

Her brothers had also come to the incredibly stupid decision to split up and go their separate ways.

That was almost two months ago. Dean was hunting shape-shifters in New Orleans and Sam was God-knows-where while Beth had chosen to remain behind and become Bobby's live-in caretaker. The old man complained that she was 'babying him' but she knew that he secretly enjoyed having somewhere there to look after him for a change, especially when Beth had also become his cook, making home-made meals instead of the ready cooked meals from the grocery store.

Beth was also ignoring her brothers, deciding that as long as they acted like little kids and remained apart—despite knowing they were obviously stronger together—then she was going to avoid them and ignore their calls.

She was, however, keeping in touch with Castiel. After spending brief periods of time with him, she'd come to the conclusion that he wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought. She was actually kind of glad he was alive, because the guilt she had felt after he had betrayed his family for them, had died for them wasn't something she wanted to experience again.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Beth asked for the fourteenth time, walking towards the door with a duffel bag in hand.

"I'll be fine," Bobby grumbled. He wheeled himself after her slowly, taking note of her torn expression. "You need to do this."

"I know, I just… please be careful," she sighed.

"Beth, I've been taking care of myself since before you were born, I'll be fine," he replied in fond exasperation.

"I'll call you when I get there." She opened the door and hesitated before turning and hugging him quickly are the neck. "See ya Bobby." She closed the door behind her and ran across the path to Adam's—to her truck and hopped in, throwing her bag in the backseat.

"Idjit," Bobby snorted. He turned and rolled back towards the living room. "You keep an eye on her, ya hear?"

"You have my word." The flapping of wings filled the room and the dark haired male disappeared from sight.


"Bethany," Castiel greeted, appearing beside her.

"Holy shit!" Beth yelped and jerked on the wheel. The car continued to swerve to the side until she managed to regain control of the truck. "What the hell, Cas?" She slapped him on the arm.

"Why did you just strike me?" he asked, frowning.

"You scared the crap out of me, that's why!"

"…My apologies," he said sincerely after a brief pause.

"It's fine. Just please, don't do that again." She glanced at him curiously. "Why are you here?"

"Bobby asked me to watch over you."

"Of course he did," she grumbled, irritated. "I can take care of myself."

Castiel squinted at her, a frown making its way onto his face as he peered at her face intently. Beth, feeling his unwavering stare, peeked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Your soul… it practically radiates sadness and fear," he explained lowly. "…What's the matter?"

Beth immediately stiffened and fixed her gaze on the road in front of her. Her heart thudded so loudly in her chest that she was sure he could hear it. She felt sick to her stomach, knowing that he could sense something was wrong.

"It, uh, it's nothing," she cleared her throat awkwardly.

"That's not true," he said quickly in response.

"…I'm going to see my mom. To say goodbye," she admitted looking over at him. "And I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Knowing that I'll never see or hear her again," Beth whispered, tears springing to her eyes, blurring her vision. "I'll never get to be with my twin again."

A strange weight settled in Cas' stomach as he watched the human girl crumble and salty tears make their way slowly down her cheeks. He slowly reached out and took her hand in his, noting the difference between the two limbs after a few seconds; his was larger with callouses from years of Jimmy working hard and Beth's was smaller, more delicate with long slender fingers. Her skin was a light olive and his was creamy white.

Beth flinched in surprise at the sudden touch and Castiel faltered, about to release her when her fingers weaved between his and she held on for dear life.


Windom Minnesota

Two days later.

"You don't have to stay," Beth pointed out, closing the motel door behind Cas.

"I promised Bobby," Cas replied gruffly. "And Dean…"

"What about him?"

"Dean wanted me to check in on you every so often," he explained, "to make sure you were okay."

Beth let out an annoyed growl at his words, clearly no-one thought she was capable of taking care of herself. "Whatever, I'm going for a shower." She grabbed a towel from the shelf next to the bathroom and paused in the doorway, glancing towards the angel. "Why don't you watch TV? I'm gonna be about 20 minutes at least."

"I don't… I don't know how it works."

"Oh. That's no problem—I'll just show you." Beth gave a brief summary or how it worked and left him to it, locking the door behind her.

She turned the shower on and stripped down before climbing into in the shower and stepping into the path of the burning hot water.


(25 minutes later)

Beth found herself in a bit of a situation. She'd forgotten to take a clean set of clothes into the bathroom with her and now she didn't know what to do, especially with Cas in the next room. She knew she could just ask him to pass some clothes through to her, but that meant he'd have to go through her private belongings and it would undoubtedly make them both uncomfortable.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbled under her breath, pulling on her underwear and wrapping the towel tightly around her. She opened the door and peeked out—Cas was still in the same spot she'd left him in, perched on the edge of the bed, completely entranced in a cooking show that was on.

Beth took a deep breath, pushing her damp hair over her shoulder and stepping into the main room, heading straight for her duffel bag.

The moment she entered the room, Cas' attention was drawn to her, zooming in on her bare, smooth looking legs and moving slowly upwards until his eyes rested on the anti-possession tattoo on the front of her right shoulder, just under her collarbone. When she shifted, he caught sight of a small cross tattooed on the back of her neck, hidden slightly by her long hair.

She turned suddenly, looking up and quickly realizing that he was staring at her. She flushed deeply under his intense gaze and cleared her throat, picking her clothes up and fleeing back to the safety of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.


Lakeview Cemetery

Windom, MN

"Where is your mother?"

"I asked around and they said she's right at the other end of the cemetery," Beth explained quietly. She'd decided to wear black clothing that afternoon, she was going to have a mini funeral of her own to say goodbye to her mom in peace. She wore a black camisole with spaghetti straps underneath a long sleeved, see-through black sweater, a pair of slim fitting skinny jeans and her Doc Marten boots. She continued to lead the curious angel along the path situated in between headstones.

Castiel peered around his surroundings in open curiosity, reading the words written on a pure white marble headstone a few feet away from them. "What's that supposed to be?" he questioned, squinting at a large slab of grey stone.

"It's an angel statue," Beth replied.

"That's not what we look like."

"Yeah well. That's just what we imagine your kind to look like… what does your actual form look like?"

"We're approximately the size of your Chrysler building. We all have one set of wings, apart from the Seraphs, they have two sets of wings. Our halos are bronze and silver. The archangels' halos are gold and even larger than ours and they have 3 sets of wings."

"Wow. That's amazing," she breathed. "I wouldn't believe you if I hadn't seen Raphael's true form back at Chuck's house."

"Michael is even larger than Raphael—his wings are almost as magnificent as Lucifer's once were."

'Wow.' Beth mouthed, completely intrigued at the idea of Michael's wings. She stopped walking after a few seconds and stared down at the freshly dug—and covered up—grave where he mom was buried.

"Are you alright?" Castiel asked awkwardly, hovering behind her.

"No. I'm not alright," she whispered. Her knees trembled and she quickly knelt down, afraid that she would fall over if she wasn't careful.

"I'll give you some privacy," Cas told her and walked a few feet away to sit on a bench.

Beth watched him go silently, thanking him for somehow knowing that she needed to be alone. She hesitantly turned back to the grave.

"Hey mom," she started quietly, staring at the black marble headstone. 'Katharine Hollie Milligan. 21st June 1957 — 15th April 2009.' Was written in bold golden letters along with the words 'Loving mom, sister and daughter.' Beth set the single lily she had down on the grass and sniffled, biting back a sob. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, but I've been busy. I have two half-brothers called Sam and Dean—they hunt monsters. Yeah, I know by now you'd be telling me not to be so silly, that monsters aren't real… but they are. So are angels and demons and God. I don't think the last one would give you any comfort, apparently He's missing and the angels run the show—have done for a long time now."

She swallowed deeply, running her fingers over the small strands of grass that peeked up out of the dirt. Her heart felt as though was someone was squeezing it to the point she couldn't breathe.

"I-I just want you to know that I love you and I miss you. So much. I wish you were here." Beth's lip trembled abruptly. "I don't know what I'm doing mommy. I'm not ready to live without you—you were supposed to be around for a long time. You were meant to be here for all the important things, like when I have my first kiss or my first boyfriend or when I finally get married and settle down to have children… there's so much you're gonna miss—you and Adam. I miss him so much too, he was my other half. 'One soul split in half' is what you called us, we always knew where the other one was and what either of us were thinking."

A small group of birds flew overhead, their wings flapping madly to keep them up in the air. She watched them go with sad eyes, wishing for the life of her that she could just take off like them, fly to some unknown place and escape from her pain and misery.

"I-I hope you're happy in heaven… I don't know what it's like up there, but I bet you're partying the night away. Don't get too carried away though, I don't want to hear of you getting into any trouble when I come to join you… if I join you, that is," she said the last part quietly.

Beth wiped away the tears on her cheeks and stood, glancing at Castiel as he stood as well and walked back to her side. She stared up at him in silence for a moment before eventually looking back at her mom's grave.

"I guess this is it for a while. I'm gonna be pretty busy, end of the world and all. I should probably call Sam and Dean when I get back. Goodbye, mom. I love you."

Castiel raised his hand and brushed her hair behind her ear—a move he'd learned from watching numerous human couples—and she started, looking at him wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry," he said stiffly. His hand fell away from her face. Beth shook his apology off mutely.

She turned her head, gaze lingering on the gravestone. Taking in the small picture that contained her mom's beautiful, smiling face. Beth let out a sudden sob, tears stinging her eyes—she'd only just realized that her mom was truly gone. She was never coming back. Before, she hadn't really come-to-terms with her mom's death, she kept expecting her mom to just walk in and it would be as though nothing had happened. But it really hit her now. She finally knew it would never happen.

Her body moved of its own accord, slotting herself in front of Castiel and winding her arms around his neck. She cried heavily into the collar of his trench coat, staining it a deeper beige colour. Castiel immediately stiffened, unsure of what to do. He quickly recalled the situation in the hospital when he'd met up with Sam, Dean and Bobby again and Beth had tackled him in a similar manner… only that time she hadn't been weeping as though she'd lost a part of her heart.

He slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around her slim waist, pulling her in even closer. Beth's long hair was blowing around her face, mixing with Cas' short, slightly darker strands. She shivered at the cold air that nipped against her exposed skin and burrowed deeper into him, desperately seeking the warmth he exuded.

To be completely honest, Beth didn't want to leave his arms—this was the safest she'd felt since the Meg incident and she was definitely not willing to relinquish her grip on that feeling any time soon.