The rest of the morning was spent developing an immunity to heat, which Cas explained would be useful and practical if I were to be using the energy techniques that I seemed to naturally lean towards.

He conjured up a bonfire in the center of the clearing, blazing huge and wild, somehow controlled, with flames still almost completely solid, despite a lack of any kind of fuel.

Standing near it, I could feel the heat radiating outward. Common sense told me that I would get burned if I touched it, but some part of me still wanted to reach out, to feel what it was like to hold the fire. And according to Cas, that was exactly what I was supposed do.

"Start with your hand. Reach in."

"Won't I get burned?"

"No. You have more energy than even these flames. When you touch them, you're losing some of yours to them. If flames could be burned, then you would be burning them. Which is why you must be careful not to let the inferno grow any larger."

I stepped forward, to a point when I could reach a hand out.

Tentatively, I reached in, slowly, starting at the tip of my finger, and sliding the rest of my hand in quickly.

It felt almost as though there was wind blowing specifically around my hand, the fire not hot or cold, just... Different. It tickled a little bit.

"Now step all the way in."

I took a breath and stepped forward, into what felt like I was inside a cloud, or a very steamy shower. The air was thick and a little difficult to breathe. The strangest part though, was the sight of the orange flames surrounding me, clouding up my sight. That, or the sound of the crackling right up against me, the snaps and pops as it burned. I wondered what to do next. I knew that I wouldn't be able to hear Cas' next instructions, but he seemed to know that too, because a moment later, his voice was in my head.

"Now, either disperse the flame, or draw in the energy."

I concentrated on sending the flames away, starting farthest away from me, imagining the oxygen around them leaving. As the circle was smaller, I started to draw in the flames instead of killing them, taking their energy instead of removing their air. In only a few moments, the only fire left in the clearing was being held gently in my hand, just my own little flame. I watched it for a minute, then let it shrink until it was small enough for me to blow out. Then I made it a little bigger, and tried changing the color.

"That is enough for today. We will begin again tomorrow."

Thank god. I was exhausted. I could hardly keep my eyes open, and was starving. The sandwich I had packed for lunch had hardly been enough then, and two hours later I was feeling like I could eat a horse.

We walked back to the house in near silence, a sort of mutual agreement that we wouldn't talk about anything dangerous.

"Are you tired?"

"Are you kidding? I'm exhausted. Will I always get so drained when I use my powers?"

"You may to some extent. As you grow more used to them, you'll develop stamina."

"What do we still have left to work on?"

"Quite a bit. Tomorrow we will work to develop mental senses, because you will most likely be sore from today's exercises."

"I'm already sore," I complained. I could already feel my muscles straining, especially in the arms I had been using to direct energy.

"The pain is a part of you. You will grow stronger and won't be sore for long."

"How long is 'not long'?"

"A few days at worst."

We had come back to the house, where Sam was waiting on the porch. Cas was gone.

"Wait to say good bye." I mumbled.

"Hey, Lily. How'd things go today?" Sam asked, when I got close.

"Pretty good."

The rest of the day involved some cleaning. I found an old guitar in Bobby's basement (that was covered in what looked like blood) and found some new strings for it, taking my time in spiffing it up before dinner. It was almost falling apart, but I didn't mind much. I was just finished tuning it when I got called down.

They had rarely eaten together before she had come, but from her first night there, Bobby had insisted that they do it, instead of just wandering around and eating whenever they felt like it.

Which was fine with Dean, because it meant that he was more likely to get a home cooked meal than having to microwave one himself. Lil even set the table. *It's like a real family, he thought sarcastically. Even if Bobby's cooking wasn't exactly Rachel Ray.

Tonight it was steak, grilled, and they all dug in with no qualms. Sam and Bobby had spent the whole day researching archangels, and he had been touching up the paint on the Impala. They weren't desperate enough to ask for his help yet. And Lil had had her first day's lesson.

"How was angel boot camp?" He asked, his mouth still full. Old habits die hard.

"Not bad. There was a lot of stuff to learn. We barely finished in time."

"What kinda stuff?" Sam asked, curiously.

She had launched into the details of the day, and had barely spared a moment. At least now she wouldn't be accidentally burning any holes in the ceiling.

"Oh, and do you guys know anything about Balthazar?" She had asked, a little while after she finished.

"Balthazar? Why?" Dean had asked. She shrugged in reply.

"He stopped in and talked to Cas. He said he'd narrowed down the list of who my parents could be."

"That bastard have anything else to say?" Dean asked.

"Just a general statement of his contempt for you." She replied.

"Well, nothing new then," he replied, putting his dish in the sink for someone else to clean.

Daylight was fading, and there was no point in going back out to finish working until tomorrow.

He was thinking about what Lil had said about Balthazar, how he thought it was more likely her mother had been narrowed down. How the hell was it easier to narrow down one woman from seven billion, rather than one archangel from seven?

One thing that she had said today had been good news though. She wasn't possessable, if Cas was right. That meant one less way she was likely to be hurt because of them. One less way she would end up dead.

He grabbed a beer and sat down to watch the game. Sam and Lil were playing chess in the background somewhere, and it seemed like she was winning, unlike the Seahawks, unfortunately.

She came over to an armchair a little while later and tried to watch for a little. She was so exhausted that in only a couple of minutes, she had passed out cold, still sitting almost straight up in a position that looked pretty damn uncomfortable.

Sam came over and sat down next to him, not looking very tired at all, still paging through a book about angels.

"Anything?"

Sam glanced up to make sure Lily was asleep. That was pretty much the only time they could talk without worrying about her hearing them. Unless they drove out to, like, New Mexico.

"Well, we've ruled out a couple, right? Going on what Cas and Balthazar said, it's not Uriel, or Raphael. And even though Balthazar isn't an archangel, she's not related to him anyway," Sam began, getting a little bit excited as he went over what they had learned.

"Who else?" Dean asked.

"Well... There's always Gabriel."

"The Trickster?"

"Well, yeah. He is an archangel, after all. And we know he's been on earth for awhile. And he hasn't exactly kept to himself. I mean, look at Casa Erotica," Sam reasoned.

"Rather not," Dean shook his head, and watched Lil, sleeping, changing positions a little so that she was curled up more, a small smile on her lips. "But I still don't think so. Is there anybody else?"

"No one else *probable. Cas says almost all of the other angels don't like it down here, and that they'd get humiliated for having any kids. And the 'few other' archangels he gave us? There are forty in all. Definitely helps narrow it down," he said, sarcastically.

"Do you think..." Dean started, as he trailed off and shook his head a little.

"What?" Sam asked, curious.

"Nothing. It's nothing."

"Dean, you can tell me."

"You don't think it could be Lucifer, do you? I mean, it's a little far out, but Cas says that he's gotta be powerful."

Sam paused, and after a minute, shook his head.

"I don't know," Sam said. "But I feel like I would know somehow if she was. I just... I feel like she's not."

Dean nodded and shook his head at once.

"Okay, just narrowing it down," he replied, defending himself, justifying the possibility of making Sam upset.

The television droned on and they watched for a little while. Long enough for the fireflies to start flickering outside the window, and for Bobby's footsteps to stop moving upstairs.

Eventually Dean reached over to the remote, and shut off the television.

Lily still hadn't moved.

"You want me to take her?" Sam asked, as he got up and stretched.

"Nah. I got it," Dean replied quietly, as he lifted Lily up carefully and carried her upstairs, while Sam checked the locks and shut off the lights. He put her in her bed, and under the covers, tucking her in just like he used to do to Sammy when their dad was away on a hunt. She still had that blissfully peaceful expression on her face.

He gave her one last, almost-not-sad smile, as he closed the door behind him and went to bed, to face the nightmares of hell all over again.

Except that night, they never came.

Hey-o. My teachers seem to be very fond of not giving us work on Fridays. Thank Chuck. Anyways, here's another chapter. Hope you like it! Thanks for reading and reviewing and for all of the awesome reviews! xx Ta!