.-.-.-.-.
Familiarity
.-.-.-.-.

Dean stared at the ceiling from his position on the motel bed. He had taken to sprawling across it completely, and Castiel had settled on his chest as a cat. Sam and Gabriel were watching some documentary about boats, and Dean couldn't bring himself to pay attention.

'It's too bad a tattoo won't work,' he said. 'I mean, it'd make sense. It'd be on my skin, and I'm enclosed in my skin.'

'Sure, but we'll have to sew your eyes shut,' Gabriel replied. 'And it wouldn't protect your hair. I guess we could shave you down. I still like the Bubble Boy idea.'

Dean rolled his eyes and sat up, sending Castiel sliding down to his lap. He nudged the cat and felt a small wave of hopelessness. 'Don't be like that. We'll figure something out. Eventually.' He blinked as his lap was suddenly being straddled by Castiel's human form and leaned back.

'It's more than that,' Castiel admitted. 'It's not just Ruby. Something else is out there. Something new.'

'How close is it?' Gabriel asked.

Castiel shrugged. 'I can't tell, and that's what worries me. I keep getting…flashes of power, but I can't place it,' he tried to explain. He sighed and leaned forward against Dean, wrapping his arms around him. 'Ruby scares me, but I can deal with her, but this… I don't know what to make of it, and I don't know how to protect you from it.'

Dean rubbed his hand along Castiel's back. 'We'll get it figured out,' he promised. He looked to his brother and Gabriel, both staring back at him in uncertainty.

.-.-.-.-.

Castiel was the first to awaken. He blinked in confusion as he slowly lifted his head and looked around the dark room. He could make out Sam and Gabriel's forms on the other bed, and nothing looked out of place. He sat up further and felt Dean drift into wakefulness.

'Wuz wrong?' Dean slurred as he propped himself on his elbows.

'I'm…not exactly sure,' Castiel quietly replied. 'Something…dark is looking for me. Me, specifically. That's not… That's not possible.'

Dean frowned as he threw off the sheets. 'What do we do? Can it get in? I thought I got the wards right.'

Castiel nodded distractedly. He gasped and jumped as a loud knock rapped against the door. He cringed against Dean, suddenly doubting the warding on the door. He could feel Dean's calm pressing against his own panic and swallowed as he tried to force himself calm down.

The knock sounded again, followed by a voice. 'Castiel, I know you're in there.'

Castiel's brows furrowed, and he reached out with his senses. Behind the door was a normal human female, but another presence was overlaid on top. Cautiously, he stood.

'Cas?' Gabriel whispered from the other bed. 'That feels like a possession. Can Ruby even do that?'

Castiel glanced at Gabriel then back to the door, slowly shaking his head. 'It would be impractical…'

'C'mon, Clarence,' the voice said impatiently.

Castiel quickly made his way to the door, ignoring the others' protests as he unlocked it and threw it open. He stared down at the dark haired woman. Despite the unfamiliar face, he would always recognize that smirk. 'Meg!'

He started to smile, but quickly dropped it in favor of giving Meg a disappointed glare. 'You're possessing that poor girl,' he said disapprovingly.

Meg rolled her eyes as she shifted her weight. 'Yeah, yeah. I'm a horrible, evil witch.' She looked past Castiel and caught Dean's eye. 'And there's the upgrade himself. You know you're really pissin' off Ruby, right?'

Dean stood and shot Sam a confused look. 'And just who are you supposed to be?' he asked.

'She's my last witch,' Castiel replied. 'Dean, this is Meg Masters. Meg, I'd like to introduce you to Dean Winchester,' he said with a soft smile.

'Wait… Wasn't she hanged?' Sam asked. 'Shouldn't she be dead?'

'Like that would keep me down,' Meg said smugly as she looked from Castiel to Dean and back. 'Can't feel a thing past this ward, but from what Ruby was saying, he's a powerful one. Better than me?'

'He's catching on quickly,' Castiel proudly replied. 'And his power is…uh…' He coughed and looked away, blushing lightly at the memory of Dean's power coursing through him. 'He's very talented.'

'I'm sure he is very…talented,' she said as she looked Dean over, letting her eyes linger on Dean' crotch.

'Right. Whatever. What do you want?' Dean demanded as he joined Castiel by the open door.

'I'm here to help,' Meg replied.

Dean stared at he doubtfully. 'And why would you wanna do that? You tryin' to get to Cas, too?'

Meg's smirk dropped, and she flicked her eyes back to Castiel. 'I have my reasons,' she slowly replied. 'But I'm not looking to have him as my familiar again. He wouldn't take me now, anyway. Possession's not exactly light magic, y'know, and handling a familiar while possessing someone? Can't do it.'

'You feel like a shadow of who you used to be,' Castiel said.

Meg shrugged, looking to the ground. 'Yeah… Ruby kinda put me through the ringer.'

'You don't happen to know who else she's been talking to?' Dean asked. 'Anyone else she's gonna try to send out to do her dirty work?'

'Well, there's Crowley.'

Castiel tensed and grabbed Dean's arm. 'She's working with Crowley?' he managed to ask.

Meg shook her head as her smirk returned. 'He laughed in her face. If anything, he'll come after you for his own reasons.'

Castiel let out a shaky breath and nodded. 'Then we needn't worry about him.'

'You sure about that?' Dean asked. 'You seemed more worried about him than Ruby just now.'

Gabriel barked out a laugh. 'That's because he's one of the darkest witches you'll ever come across,' he replied. 'He's powerful, to boot. I ran across him once, and he was gonna try to get me to be his familiar before he found out I draw from the light.'

'And you're ready to just disregard him?' Dean asked, nudging Castiel. He couldn't feel any worry coming from his familiar, but he wasn't ready to trust that just yet. He wanted to be certain.

'As long as Ruby has nothing to offer him, he poses no threat to me. I hold some of his spells in my grimoire, and I don't believe he would risk losing access to… Oh, no.'

Dean frowned as Castiel's nails dug into his arm. He could feel Castiel's fear skyrocket, and he instinctively pulled him close. 'Cas? What's wrong?'

'I know what Ruby wants,' Castiel numbly replied. He glanced at Meg and shook his head. 'I'm sorry, but…the fewer people that know, the better.'

Meg nodded and leaned against the doorjamb. 'I can make a guess that it's one of his spells. Probably something that'd keep Ruby from fading,' she said. She caught the hopeful looks from the men inside the motel room and shook her head. 'Don't get your hopes up, kids. Her personal power is fading. She can still nab it from a sacrifice, and she's been picking off the homeless in the cities we've been in.'

'Well, quickest way to recharge her power is straight up reincarnation,' Gabriel said. 'Maybe she should try it? Might make her a more pleasant person on her second go around.'

'Without a way to ensure she retains her memories?' Meg snorted as she rolled her eyes. 'Why do you think I'm hanging around like this?' she said, gesturing to herself. 'Cas refused to give me a good spell for that, so I'm left looking for my own way.'

'You know my reasons,' Castiel quietly replied. 'And your current possession only supports my decision.'

She sighed as she pushed herself off the doorjamb. 'Right. Now that that's taken care of… I need a spell,' she said.

Dean's face screwed up in confusion. 'A spell? You're a witch, too, right?'

'I can't cast spells,' she said evenly. 'Look, I need to get off Ruby's radar, and you guys need to get moving. I'd appreciate it if you'd help me out before you head out.' She gave Castiel a pleading stare, her tone turning desperate. 'He can cast something to keep me hidden, right? I don't wanna be a kept spirit. Not to her. I'd take Crowley over her. At least he's sane!'

'Dean…should be able to,' Castiel carefully replied. He tugged on Dean's arm and nodded away from the door.

'Give us a minute,' Dean said as he shut the door on Meg.

'Be quick about it!'

'You're giving me a lot of mixed signals, Cas,' Dean said after threw up what he hoped was a spell to keep Meg from listening in.

Castiel shivered and nodded. 'I feel like I owe her,' he explained. 'She warded her house before the townspeople came for her… She sacrificed her life to keep me out of Ruby's grasp, and… I owe her for that.'

Sam looked at the closed door then to Dean. 'If I'm getting this right… Then how come there's a spell to keep her off the radar, and not Dean?' he asked.

'She's a spirit. A ghost. A spectre,' Gabriel replied. 'Ghosts get tied down to where they died, but if you plan ahead, you can get tied to an object and use that to possess the living or just haunt around the area. Pretty nifty trick, but you lose all your power suppressing a living soul.' He gave Sam a small shrug and an apologetic grin. 'You can't, though. Unless Dean hooked you up. I had a witch I toted around for a couple hundred years. She was tied to…and, oh, yeah. Talk about this later. Right.' He waved at Castiel and nodded. 'I'm done.'

Castiel sighed, shaking his head. 'You can ward her talisman in a similar way to how you've done your coat,' he said to Dean. 'If you want, we can keep her afterwards. As a spirit, she can contact others that are still tied to this plane.' He frowned as he felt a flare of jealousy coming from Dean and tossed his own confusion of the feeling back.

'You're saying that not only should we help her out, but…you wanna keep your dead ex-girlfriend around? Really?' Dean asked with a huff.

'She's not my…' Castiel narrowed his eyes at Dean as he tilted his head, trying to follow Dean's thinking. 'It's true that she felt some form of affection for me, but nothing like we have. Nothing that was shared or pursued. Dean, she…she poses no threat to what we have.'

Dean sighed as he nodded. 'Still don't like the idea of keeping her around,' he grumbled.

Gabriel slapped Dean on the back, grinning widely. 'No problem! If you guys ever get it in your heads that you do want a kept spirit, we can go antiquing. The dead can be pretty useful,' he said, Castiel nodding along in agreement.

'I believe Meg would prefer to be on her own, and she would be more useful to us away and hidden,' Castiel said. 'While I don't approve of her possessing another being…I do see the benefits.' He sighed as he moved to one of the beds and slumped down. 'Communing with the dead is a very old and practical means of communication, but with how society has progressed...'

'Yeah, spirits have fallen to the wayside,' Gabriel said. 'They still make a damned good network of spies, though.'

'I don't get it,' Dean admitted.

'Really?' Sam said with a laugh. 'It's, like, in all the movies! You have a medium who talks to one ghost, and that ghost can reach out to all the others. The internet, but with…dead people.' He made a face as he slowly finished, processing his own words.

'So you're suggesting going dial-up with Meg?' Dean asked with a raised brow. He shrugged as he moved to the door. 'Not too bad of a plan, if I'm understanding it right.'

'Your understanding is correct,' Castiel said as he watched Dean open the door.

Meg jumped as the door opened, and stared at Dean appraisingly. 'You're a lot better than I was expecting,' she grudgingly admitted. 'You just might make it out of this.'

'Whatever. Get in here, and let's see about that spell. It's gonna cost you,' Dean said as he stepped back to let Meg in.

Meg felt the wards on the room shift to allow her in. 'Course. Keep track of Ruby, right? I can do that. She doesn't exactly hide her movements. Not like you guys have been doing.' She entered the room and immediately walked up to Castiel, pulling him into a tight hug. 'I'm so happy for you,' she whispered, letting every thought and feeling she had ever kept hidden from him sift along their fading connection. She pulled away, smirking at the bewildered look on Castiel's face.

'I…I never knew,' he said quietly.

'Of course not! You were such a stick-in-the-mud. And way too formal,' she replied. 'Besides, a fifty year old woman getting it on with a young-looking thing like you? Probably woulda been hanged even sooner.' She laughed as she shook her head. 'Nowadays, though… I would totally tap that. Be a… What do they call 'em? Cougars?'

Dean stifled a snigger at the embarrassment that dripped off Castiel. He lightly patted Castiel's shoulder and looked to Sam. 'Right. So we get Meg hooked up, and then we head out. How do I go about doing this?'

'Easiest way? Knock me out then perform the spell on this,' Meg said as she sat on the bed and lifted her talisman. 'Whack me on the head or zap me, doesn't make any difference to me.'

Gabriel reached over as he walked by and tapped her on the back of the head, and she fell backward, unconscious. 'Sorry, kiddo, but you're already possessing that poor girl. No need to go about damaging the goods.'

'I'm not damaging anything.'

Sam and Dean spun around to face a young, blonde woman with short cropped hair. She was barefoot and wore a plain shift. Their eyes were automatically drawn to the dark bruises marring her neck. Both almost jumped when her hand reached up to her neck.

'If you plan on becoming a ghost, keep in mind how you die. I'm lucky burning at the stake went out of style,' she said bitterly. 'Used to hate what they did to my hair, but I guess it's en vogue, now.'

'You don't…look that old,' Sam said, finding his voice. He had thought ghosts were supposed to be transparent, at the very least. Meg looked pretty solid. 'You're supposed to be in your seventies.'

'One of the perks of being dead. And, I was a hundred and five,' Meg proudly replied. She placed a hand on her hip and raised an expectant brow. She made a disgusted sound as Dean ran his hand through her shoulder. 'Really?'

'You look…' Dean trailed off, shaking his head. It wasn't just that he could see Meg. He was aware of her presence. It was similar to how he could feel Castiel and even the other witches back at the Roadhouse. 'You feel real.'

'I am real,' she testily replied. 'Look, Cas can explain all the finer workings of common spirits versus witch spirits to you later. But right now? Get to the witchcraft! Ruby's gonna be pissed that I escaped. She's pissed off and desperate. I wanna be as far from you as possible.'

Dean huffed in annoyance as he turned away and looked down at the young woman on the bed. 'So what do I do?'

'He's been your witch for how long?' Meg said disbelievingly, taking in Castiel's sulking form. 'I get not being raised a witch, but this is simple spellwork!'

'He catches on very quickly,' Castiel said defensively as he took Meg's talisman and handed it to Dean. 'Just hold it in your hands and make it invisible.'

'I'm guessing you don't mean literally… So, uh, invisible-invisible or just camouflaged?' Dean asked as he held it in one and and closed the other on top.

'Huh. He is a natural,' Meg said, impressed. 'Camouflage would work best…if you can manage it. Like a chameleon, so I can control it.'

Over the course of two hours, Dean had finally managed to get the spell for Meg's talisman right. Meg's constant goading had Dean snapping back every time she opened her mouth. When Meg finally declared the spell was right, Dean stood and stumbled as his vision blacked out for a moment.

'Careful,' Castiel murmured as he steadied Dean, his hand lightly stroking Dean's chest. 'You're not accustomed to constant spellcasting yet.'

Dean rubbed at his eyes and dropped the talisman on the unconscious girl's stomach. 'That sucked.' He looked around the room, and saw that the others had already packed up. At least that was one less thing he had to worry about. He hoped he hadn't wasted too much time on the spell.

'We should be fine,' Castiel said, picking out Dean's thoughts. 'We'll just need to get moving right away.' He reluctantly moved his hand away from Dean's chest and smiled when Dean reached up to hold it in place.

'Sam, can you take the first leg?' Dean asked. He frowned as he watched Meg move past him and reach out to her talismen. Her fingers slowly wrinkled as she replaced her talisman about the girl's neck. 'That's creepy.'

Meg rolled her eyes at him before vanishing. The girl sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking slowly. 'Being a poltergeist takes a little more energy than just standing around,' Meg said as she stretched her neck, letting out a loud pop that had her freezing for a moment, eyes wide. She let out a shaky breath as she stood up, forcing a grin. 'If you want creepy, then anything reminding you of how you died… Now, that's creepy.'

'So… You are gonna keep in touch, right?' Sam asked, and she nodded. 'Do you need us to drop you off anywhere?'

'If I happen across anything useful for you guys, then I'll let you know. No phone calls. I'll send you a spook. I'll even keep an eye on Ruby from a distance, but uh… No offence, boys, but I don't wanna be anywhere near you. I'm gonna find myself a new haunt and make myself scarce for a while,' she replied. She patted Castiel on the cheek, smiling softly. 'I hereby fully dismiss you, Castiel. Have a good life, okay? Stay safe. Make some sausages. Move some furniture,' she said with a wink before letting her eyes dart to Dean and back.

Castiel blushed brightly and nodded. 'Thank you,' he whispered as he pulled her into a tight hug.

Meg pushed him away with a bitter laugh. 'Whatever.' She waved dismissively as she left, letting the door close quietly behind her.

'So…' Dean drawled, breaking the silence. 'Is this gonna be a regular thing?'

Castiel looked at Dean in confusion, uncertain what his witch was thinking of. He prodded Dean to elaborate.

'Your, uh…exes?' Dean said with a slight smirk. He stifled a laugh at the indignified huff Castiel gave him. 'Sorry. You know what I mean, right? Ruby, Meg… That Crowley guy? How many more witches out there had you as a familiar and are still around?'

'Oh. Enough,' Castiel said quietly.

'At least six that I know of,' Gabriel added.

'Are they all as bad as Ruby, or more like Meg?' Sam asked. He hoped for more like Meg. Haunted necklaces seemed a lot less threatening than a fully functional witch.

Castiel breathed slowly as he mentally took stock of his past witches. 'Hannah placed herself in a doll to watch over her family. Tessa is bound to a brooch. A handful of others in similar situations, or they may have been banished or passed on by now. There are a few that gave up their magic for something similar to immortality, so they aren't a threat. All in all, Ruby and Crowley, and whomever else they may have spoken to about me and the grimoire, are the only real threat. The others would just be nuisances.'

'Great,' Dean muttered. He could follow Castiel's impressions of each potential threat, and Ruby seemed to be the only one he was truly worried about.