Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Sleeping With The Ally

Chapter 26: Are you there God? It's me, Dean Winchester.

Mia's eyes danced behind her eyes lids as she unconsciously watched the nightmare paying in her head. Dean hung against a scratchy brick wall, bound by red hot chains that were wrapped around his limbs and torso like venomous snakes. The metal constantly burned into his flesh, but he didn't scream out. Instead he clenched his teeth and bore his gaze into the figure standing in front of him. He didn't curse the demon, he knew it was pointless. It would do no good to stop the torture, it wouldn't make it go by any faster. As the figure strode closer it twirled a sharp silver knife in its hands and when it got close enough the knife stopped twirling and was stabbed into Dean's abdomen. Dean's eyes squeezed shut as his mouth opened wide and a pain filled yell escaped.

Maria gasped for air as she sat straight up in bed. When she caught her breath she looked to her left to see that Dean was still fast asleep. So she eased herself out of bed as quietly as her big belly would allow, slipped on a pair of ratty, oversized house shoes and padded her way to the door. When she glanced back at Dean, she saw the rapid movements of his eyes behind his eyelids, heard the tiny pants he was making and knew he was having a nightmare too.

She went down stairs to the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed herself a bottle of water. When she turned around she was met by Sam, sitting at the small round table. "Didn't mean to scare you." he said breaking the silence of the night.

"You didn't." she said as she waved him off and sat at the table with a small sigh.

"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked and she shook her head, not meeting his eyes. "Another nightmare?" he asked. His question made her look at him as she nodded. He knew she'd had them ever since Dean died. He had hoped that they would stop now that Dean was back, but it looked like that wouldn't be the case. "The usual dream?" he knew that with her, it helped to talk about it.

"No, this one was…" she trailed off and stared at the table as her eyebrows knit together in thought. "Did you ask Dean if he remembers hell?" she asked as she looked back up at Sam.

"Yeah. He says he doesn't remember anything." Sam stated, his tone suggesting that he didn't believe him.

"I think he's lying." She said as she looked back down at her bottle of water that was being spun in her hands.

"Have you dream snooped on him?" Sam asked gently.

"No, but since he's gotten back…my dream's have changed." She admitted and Sam got up and moved to the chair closer to her. "I'm not snooping on him, but I think I'm still seeing what he's dreaming."

"What do you mean?" Sam prompted.

"Well, when I dream snoop I'm awake and it's like I'm watching an old movie, but this… this happens when I'm asleep and it's like I'm there in his dream, watching what's going on, but no one can see me." she explained.

"So tonight you saw…what?" Sam asked.

Maria opened her mouth to tell him, but stopped herself. "Sam, I feel bad enough for seeing his dreams. I'm not going to tell you Dean's business." She said.

Sam nodded his head, understanding her need for confidentiality. "Yeah, but you said you think Dean is lying about not remembering hell, why?" he asked.

Maria sighed and rubbed her temples. "Because he sure seems to remember it when he's unconscious." She still felt like she had shared too much, but she had to explain herself. Seeing the pained look on her face, Sam reached out and rubber her back, comfortingly. His touch sent a shiver down her spine, but she tried to ignore it and started talking, to distract herself. "I mean, it was horrible, Sam. I feel bad for seeing his dreams… I feel worse seeing what he had to go through while he was there. And I know that what I saw probably wasn't even half of what he had to endure in hell. But the worst part of all of this is I feel stupid and selfish for not wanting to know what he went though." Her rambling had spiraled off into a dark tangent that she hadn't meant for it too and tears had started slipping down her cheeks.

Sam couldn't help but reach out and wipe away her tears "Hey." He whispered as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his warm side. "Come 'ere." She tucked her head into his chest out of habit. He let her stay that way for a few seconds before he hooked his finger under her chin, gently making her look at him. "You're not stupid or selfish." She just sniffled and leaned away slightly so that she could look at him more comfortably. "You're human."

"No, Sam, I'm a hunter. I'm supposed be able to deal with all this dark, demented crap." She argued.

Sam shook his head at her. "You're not a hunter right now. You're a hormonal mom-to-be." he smiled at his statement.

She smiled back and let her head fall to the side to land on his left shoulder. Sam lifted his right hand and brushed her messy short waves out of her face before he let his big hand rest on her neck. She basked in the relaxing feel of his warm hand and side for only a minute before she realized that they shouldn't be doing this. It's not his job to comfort her anymore. Dean was back, she should be confiding in him, not Sam. She sat up and finished off her bottle of water before she stood and tossed it into the trash. Sam tossed his beer bottle in the trash from where he still sat at the table. Maria was almost out of the kitchen when she turned back to see Sam staring down at the table looking like he was in deep thought. "Sam," she said getting his attention. He looked at her with raised eyebrows that asked what she wanted. "Thanks for listening." Her feet took on a mind of their own as she walked over to him, placed her hand on his neck and bent down to peck him on the lips. "Please don't forget how much I love you." she thought to herself as she looked into his eyes then walked away.

When she got back up stairs, her mind was still reeling from kissing Sam so she wasn't thinking about Dean still asleep in the bed when she shut the door behind her loudly. Dean's eyes shot open and he was breathing hard. Mia froze hoping he would go back to sleep, but he sat up in bed when he saw her standing near the door. "Hey, what are you doin' up?" he asked groggily.

"Couldn't sleep." She sighed as she walked over to her side of the bed and sat down. Dean wrapped an arm around her lower back as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She smiled into the kiss as he pulled her down into bed with him. It wasn't hard for her to melt into his warm caring arms. As they lay on their sides, Dean pressed warm wet kisses to her neck. She sighed and tilted her head to the side, giving him access to where ever he wanted to kiss or nibble. Without thinking he rolled to lie on top of her. Feeling her belly between them he pulled out of the kiss and looked at her with questioning eyes asking if he'd hurt her. "It's fine, Dean." She assured him as she rolled over so she was on top. He laughed as he cupped her face in his hand and brought her down to kiss him.

Sometime later they both lay flat on their back sweaty and panting. "God, I've missed you." Dean laughed up at the ceiling. Mia rolled onto her side and rested her hand on his stomach.

"I missed you too." She whispered and Dean turned to see her smiling at him.

He rolled onto his side and rested his hand on her stomach. "Didn't shake you about too much did I?" he asked and Mia just shook her head no. "Have you thought of any names?" he asked and she smiled.

"I was wondering if you were going to ask about names." She commented. "I like Victoria Mary for a girl." Dean's face lit up at the use of his mother's name. "and Landon John for a boy." Dean's face crinkled at the boy's name. "What?" she asked.

"Landon?" he asked clearly not liking that name.

"What's wrong with Landon?"

"I don't know. It sounds… stuck up." he admitted, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"It was my father's name." she admitted and Dean just stared at her. "Okay, what would you name our kid?" she asked with a laugh.

"Ryder or Ruger." He admitted. "Colt maybe?"

"Dean, we aren't naming our son after a gun." Mia laughed.

"Why not?" he asked with a smile as he rubbed her belly.

"Fine, you can name our son Colt if Landon and John are his middle names." She reasoned with him, thinking he wouldn't like the idea of two middle names.

"Deal." He said without a moment's thought. She watched him smile as he felt the baby kick his hand.

The brothers where arguing in the kitchen, yet again. While Sam sat at the desk near the phones and Mia sat across from him, Dean paced. "All I know is I was not… groped, by an angel."

"Okay look, Dean, why do you think this Castiel guy would lie to you about it?" Sam asked.

"Maybe he's some kind of demon. Demon's lie." Dean stated as he paced back toward the kitchen cabinets.

"A demon who's immune to salt rounds? And devil's traps? And Ruby's knife? Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing." Sam argued as he swiveled the desk chair to look at his brother.

Dean picked up a piece of pizza and smelled of it before tossing it back into the box. "Don't you think that if angels were real, some hunter somewhere would have seen one, at some point, ever?" Dean asked talking aggravatedly with his hands.

"Yeah, you just did, Dean." Sam stated.

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here, okay? Work with me." Dean said as he leaned back onto the white cabinet.

"Dean we have a theory." Sam was now getting agitated. He glanced at Maria for help.

"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust please." Dean said with creased brows as he walked over to the desk and placed his hands on his hips.

"Dean, stop and think for a minute here." Mia finally spoke up making Dean look from his brother to her. "Where do you think demons came from, huh? They were created by Lucifer."

"Yeah, so?" Dean asked with a frown while Sam smiled at her.

"So what is Lucifer?" Mia asked trying to get him to say what Lucifer was.

"I don't know where you're going with this." Dean said. He was playing stupid, she knew it.

"Dean, Lucifer is a fallen angel. So don't you think it could be possible that angels are real, because if they weren't demons wouldn't exist?" she asked.

Dean opened his mouth to argue with her, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Before he could, Bobby interrupted them. "You three chuckleheads wanna keep arguing religion or you wanna come take a look at this?" the three of them exchanged some hard and aggravated looks before they headed over to Bobby who was in the library of a living room. "I got stacks of lore. Biblical, pre-Biblical, some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit."

"What else?" Dean asked rubbing at the burn on his shoulder.

"What else what?" Bobby asked, confused.

"What else can do it?" Dean asked as he dropped his hand.

"Airlift your ass out of the hot box?" Bobby asked rhetorically. "As far as I can tell nothin'."

Dean just stared at the floor until Sam spoke up. "Dean, this is good news."

"How?" Dean asked with raised brows.

"Because for once this isn't just another round of demon crap. I mean maybe you were saved by one of the good guys." Sam answered.

"Okay, say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what, there's a god?" Dean asked.

Bobby shrugged "At this point, biggest money's on yeah."

"Well, I hope there's a god or else I prayed to no one after you died." Mia didn't mean to say it out loud, but it was true. After Dean died and Sam ditched her she had to talk to someone.

"You prey?" both of the brothers asked at the same time making Maria shrink back a bit.

"Well, yeah. You were dead, Sam was nowhere to be seen so I had no one to talk to other than Bobby." Bobby raised his eyebrows at her silently asking what was wrong with him. "No offense, Bobby, you're a good listener, but sometimes it's easier to talk to someone who dosen't talk back." He told her with one of his looks that there was no offense taken.

"I don't know guys." Dean said taking the subject off of an uncomfortable looking Mia's faith and putting them back on topic.

"Okay, look." Sam interrupted his brother. "I know you're not all choir boy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof."

"Proof?" Dean, who had started walking away from them, turned back around to look at his brother.

"Yes." Sam answered.

"Proof that there's a God out there that give a crap about me, personally?" he asked. "I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it." Dean argued.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

It took Dean a second to come up with an answer, but he finally said "Because why me?" he asked as he looked between the three of them. Mia had opened her mouth to answer him, but he kept talking. "If there is a God out there why would her give a crap about me?" Sam tried to talk, but Dean kept going. "I mean I've saved some people okay? I figured that made up for the, for the stealing and the, and ditching chicks." Dean stumbled through his words a bit. "But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy." Dean had gone from aggravated to agitatedly ranting.

"Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs." Sam said what all of them were thinking.

"Well that creeps me out." Dean stated. "I mean I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by God." Dean almost laughed at the thought.

"Okay, well too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat." Sam said and Maria laughed at the thought of Dean wearing a pointy party hat. He rolled his eyes at her then looked at Bobby who gave him a look that said he agreed.

Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Fine, what do we know about angles?"

Bobby sighed as he picked up a stack of five thick books and plopped them down in front of Dean. "Start readin'."

Dean pointed a finger at Sam and said "You're gonna get me some pie." Before he slapped his hand on the small book on top, took it and headed to the kitchen. Sam sighed and looked at Maria and Dean before he grabbed the keys to the impala off of the desk and headed out. Maria grabbed the next book in the stack and went to join Dean at the dining table in the kitchen. She had been reading for a few minutes when her stomach audibly growled. Dean didn't say anything as he picked up his phone and called Sam. "Hey, grab Mia some Funyuns while you're out." Mia heard Sam say something back. "And don't forget my pie." Mia smiled at Dean who smiled back while Sam gripped at Dean. "Well, never, but-" Sam cut him off and Dean rolled his eyes. "whatever, hurry up. Bye."

"You didn't have to do that you know." Mia informed Dean who just waved her off.

He was about to say something back when they heard Bobby sigh heavily in the library. "You alright in there Bobby?" Dean called and Bobby walked in with his cell phone in his hand.

"Yeah, you look aggravated as hell." Mia chipped in and Bobby look from his cell phone to her then to Dean.

"Do either of you know Olivia Lowry?" He asked and Mia shook her head.

"Yeah, she's a hunter isn't she?" Dean asked as he stood up from the table.

"Yeah, I've been trying to reach her for the past three days. See if she knows anything about this angel stuff." Bobby explained.

"Maybe she's busy." Maria suggested, but Bobby shook his head.

"No, it ain't like her to ignore calls much less this many of them." He said as he tucked his phone into his pocket. "I'm gonna go check on her." Bobby said.

"I'll go with you." Dean said before he looked to Mia. "Or maybe I should stay here." He didn't ask a question, but his eyes made it one.

"No, go Dean. I'll be safe here." She said as she got up from the kitchen chair to stand at his side. "Besides, if something is going on I'm sure Bobby could use the help."

"You sure?" Dean asked and she nodded so he left to go pack his stuff.

"If anything happens, go to the basement and through the iron door. You'll be safe there." Bobby said before he too left to start getting ready to go.

Mia was with them outside packing Bobby's car when Sam pulled up. Bobby went to the window and leaned in to catch Sam up on what was going on. While he was doing that Mia followed Dean to the diver's side of the Impala. "You stay safe out there." Mia told him as he placed his hands on her hips. She rested hers on his shoulders, careful not to touch his burn.

"I will." He leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips. "That goes for you too. If anything happens you call me and I'll get here as fast as I can." She gave him a nod before he pressed his lips to hers in a slow, passionate kiss. "I love you." he whispered the words against her lips.

She pulled back to look at him and got captivated in his bright green depths. "I love you too, Dean."

He gave her anther quick kiss before he stepped away from her and pulled the impala's door open. "Scoot over." He said to Sam who scooted over and Dean slid inside. Mia leaned over and stuck her head inside the car, her arms crossed over the open window. Sam handed Dean the bag from the convenience store. He dug around in it before he handed her a big bag of funyuns then continued to dig through the bag. "Dude?" he asked getting Sam's attention. "Where's the pie?"

Sam's face fell before Dean angrily put the car in gear. "Stay safe out there, Sam." Mia said and he gave her a nod before she stood up straight and they drove off.

Mia was sitting on the couch, watching some stupid black and white show when her phone started ringing Dean's ringtone. "Hey, we're on our way back." He informed her.

"Okay, good, did you figure out what was going on with Olivia?" she asked as she stood up and started pacing the room.

"Yeah, we think ghosts killed her and some other off duty hunters." He explained hastily. "Hendricksen just tried to kill Sam."

"Wait, like Hendricksen, Hendricksen?" Mia asked. "As in the guy that Lilith killed?"

"Yeah, so I need you to stay safe. Do anything you can think to do, salt like, iron, you know the drill." Dean said sounding worried.

"Yeah, Dean, I'll take care of myself. Don't worry about me, you just watch out for you." she asked and he gave her a positive answer before he hung up. She went to the kitchen, grabbed the bag of salt that Bobby kept under the sink and drew a salt line around the couch. She then grabbed the iron fire poker and plopped down on the couch to finish her bag of chips.

Thirty minutes later the sun had fully set and Bobby walked in to find Maria sleeping on the couch. But she was woken up by the sound of the TV and radio going crazy with static. Bobby didn't say a word as she stood up, iron fire poker in hand, and started following him. As they neared the stairs a red white and blue stripped ball bounced down them to land at Bobby's feet. When they turned around they came face to face with a set of twin little girls. "Maria run!"

She did as Bobby said and made a run for the basement. Once down she looked around for the iron door that Bobby told her to go through and she spied it in the back right hand corner. "Why didn't you save me Maria?" she heard the voice of a little boy behind her and turned to see a child that had drown during one of the cases she had worked with her mother. She was frozen in fear for only a second before she turned and made a run for the iron door.

The little boy chased after her and she made it in just in time for her to slam the door in the little boys face. He evaporated into smoke as he slammed into the door. Once inside she sat down on the computer desk breathing hard. It had been a while since she had run that far that fast and with good reason. It took her a while to catch her breath and calm her speeding heart rate, but when things calmed down she pulled her phone out and called Dean. But the call never went through. Wondering why she looked around her at the metal room. As she walked along the wall, examining it, she noticed that it was all iron and coated in salt. "Smart, Bobby, but not practical for when you need to call for help." She said aloud even though Bobby wasn't around to hear her.

She could hear things going on outside, thuds and gunshots, but she didn't want to leave the safety of the round metal room and risk something happening to the baby. When things fell silent she waited patiently for Bobby to come tell her it was safe. Eventually she did hear someone come downstairs. "Open the door." Bobby said so she went to the big door and yanked it open.

He walked in first with the boys following him. Mia went to Dean and hugged him before she turned to Sam and gave him a small smile. As she turned back to Dean she saw him looking at the guns that lined one side of the wall.

"Bobby, is this-?" Sam started.

"Solid iron." Bobby answered.

"And from the looks of it the whole thing is completely coated in salt." Maria chimed in and Bobby gave her a smirk.

"You built a panic room?" Sam asked with humor in his voice.

"I had a weekend off." Bobby answered as if it was the obvious answer.

The three of them laughed. "Bobby." Dean said getting the older man's attention. "You're awesome." Dean said with a goofy grin and a gun in his hand.

"So stupid." Mia mumbled under her breath, but Dean heard her and wrapped his arm around her waist, giving her the same goofy grin.

"Oh." Dean said as his eyes caught sight of the black and white poster of a blond woman in a one piece bathing suit. The three of them exchanged awkward glances before Maria walked over and flipped the poster around.

"So you guys have any clue as to what's going on out there?" Maria asked.

"Yeah. A little. The ghosts that are killing people are the ghosts of people they couldn't save." Dean informed her as he held her tightly to his side.

"Oh. So that's why Hendricksen visited Sam and why…" Mia trailed off thinking about the little boy she couldn't' save.

"Why what?" Dean asked seeing the distant look on her face.

"Why I was visited by Aiden." Dean asked her who that was. "He's a little boy that died on a case that Mom and I were working. A spirit pulled him into the water and I jumped in after him, but I couldn't save him." Dean gave her a caring squeeze before he let go of her and walked over to where Sam was setting out the stuff to pack salt rounds.

"We also know that both Hendricksen and Meg had a brand on their hands." Sam filled her in and she looked at him, noticing the cut on his left eyebrow for the first time. Without thinking she walked over and touched his temple close to the cut. "I'm fine." He answered her silent question as he pushed her hand away. Dean noticed, but didn't say anything as he started packing the shells.

The room was silent other than the sounds the boys made packing the salt rounds and Bobby and Maria flipping the pages of books, looking for the symbol. That was until Dean broke the silence. "See this is why I can't get behind god."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked with a creased brow.

"If he doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people, that's how it is. And no rhyme or reason, just random, horrible, evil. I get it. Okay? I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him?" he asked. "Where the hell is he while these decent people are getting torn to shreds?" he packed the shell in his hands some more before he finished with "How does he live with himself, you know? Why doesn't he help?" Dean threw the packed shell onto the table. They all look to Bobby for an answer.

"I ain't touching this one with a 10 foot pole." He said dismissively and the boys looked at her.

"Fine, I'll give it a go." She said as she snapped her book shut and sat it down beside her to think. When she came up with the best answer she simply said. "Good can't exist without evil. There's gotta be balance. They're bad we're good. God's good, but if her interferes too much then the balance will be tipped." She said and the boys just stared at her.

"Found it." Bobby piped up and they all looked at him. "The symbol you saw. The brand on the ghosts. Mark of the Witness."

"Huh?" Mia asked with a scrunched up face that made the boys smile.

"Witness to what?" Sam asked with a look at his brother before he looked back at Bobby.

"The unnatural. None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See these ghosts, they were forced to rise. The woke up in agony. They're like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them… on purpose." Bobby said and Sam asked who. "Do I look like I know?" he asked snarkily. "But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark. A brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It's called the rising of the witnesses. It figures into an ancient prophecy."

"Wait, wait, wait. What book is that prophecy from?" Dean asked as he got up from his chair and walked over to look at the book on the desk. Sam followed while Mia stayed on the bed where she had been sitting.

"Well, the widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know, but um, long story short: Revelations." They all just stared at Bobby. "This is a sign."

The brothers looked at each other then back at Bobby. "A sign of what?" they asked at the same time.

Maria and Bobby gave each other a look before he leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "The apocalypse."

"The apocalypse?" Dean asked and Bobby confirmed. "As in "apocalypse" apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence…$5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?" Dean asked talking with his hands.

"That's the one." Bobby answered while Maria and Sam just stared. "The Rise of the Witnesses is a…" Bobby looked around searching for the right words, "a mile marker."

"Okay, that's freaking awesome. What are we supposed to do now?" Maria asked not hiding the fact that she didn't like the idea of raising her baby in the apocalypse.

"Pfft. Road trip." Dean said as he started walking over to wear Mia was sitting and she stood up, meeting him half way. "Yeah? Grand Canyon, star trek experience," he clapped his hands together and pointed at his brother, "Bunny ranch." Mia slapped his good shoulder and gave him a look. His response was to give her one of his goofy smiles.

"First things first." Bobby spoke up. "How about we survive our friends out there?"

"Great. Any ideas, aside from staying in this room until judgment Day?" before sat next to Mia on the bed and looped his arm around her waist.

Bobby pointed at a piece of paper with his pencil. "It's a spell to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work."

"Should? Ha. Great." Sam said speaking for the first time in a while.

"If I translated correctly. I think I got everything we need here at the house." Bobby said as he leaned back in his chair again.

"You wouldn't have everything you need here in this awesome room of your would you?" Mia asked and Dean smirk at her calling the room awesome when she had called him stupid from calling Bobby awesome for making the room.

"You thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden?" Bobby popped off at her, but gave her a smirk that let her know he was kidding with her. He got up and went to the wall of guns. "Spell's gotta be cast over an open fire."

"The fire place in the library." Sam thought out loud.

"Bingo." Bobby was clearly one step ahead.

"It's just not as appealing as a uh, ghost-proof panic room with my girl in it, you know?" Dean asked while rubbing his temples. After that they got to work arming themselves while Maria sat on the bed with her legs crossed and her back against the wall and watched. When they were ready Dean kissed her on the forehead then joined the other two men at the door. "You boys be careful." She said as she got up off the bed to stand behind the men. They all gave her a nod before Bobby started talking.

"Cover each other." He instructed as he grabbed the metal leaver that opened and closed the door. "and aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better." Mia thought sarcastically to herself as Bobby opened the door and they cautiously left. When they were all out she started to close the heavy door, but the spirit of the little boy popped up and she froze. "Why Maria? Why's you let me drown?"

Dean looked back and saw her standing there not moving. So he backtracked and grabbed the door shutting it on the little boy. It vaporized and Dean opened the peep slot to look at Mia. "You okay?" he asked and she simply nodded at him.

As Mia waited for it all to be over she ignored the little boy that was outside the door taunting her and made a game of counting gunshots. It distracted her from the fact that it was gunshots she was counting. The grand total? Twenty-six.

As soon as it was over Dean went and got Mia. She was relieved to find that he was completely unharmed.

Mia was dreamlessly sleeping until she woke to Dean saying "If you say mysterious ways, so help me I will kick your ass." As she looked around she realized he was out in the hallway. "So Bobby was right? About the witnesses? Was this some kind of a sign of the apocalypse?" she heard him ask as she got out of bed to see who she was talking to.

"Dean?" she asked with a sleepy swipe of her eyes. "Who are you talk-" her sentence was cut off when she saw a man in a tan trench coat looking at her through squinted blue eyes. His hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days.

"Hello, Maria." The man greeted in a gravelly voice and she instantly knew who he was.

"Castiel?" she asked, now fully awake.

"Yes, that is my name." he told her formally before he turned his attention back to Dean. "That's why we're here. Big things afoot."

"Do I wanna know what kind of things?" Dean asked.

"I sincerely doubt it, but you two need to know." Castiel said as he looked between Dean and Mia. "The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."

"What seals?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that's not a show at SeaWorld." Dean added and Mia gave him a look that he knew meant she was calling him stupid in her head.

"Those seals are being broken by Lilith." Castiel informed them.

"She did the spell, she rose the witnesses?" Dean asked as he walked to where Mia was still standing in the doorway of the spare bedroom and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Mm-hm and not just here. Twenty other hunters are dead." Castiel said looking between the two.

"Of course. She picked victims the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us." Dean connected the dots out loud while Mia stayed quiet, connecting them in her head.

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor." Castiel added and Mia rolled her eyes.

"We put those spirits back to rest." Dean said.

"Doesn't matter. The seal was broken." Castiel said.

"Why break the seal, anyway?" Dean asked what Mia was thinking.

"You think of the seals as locks on a door." Castiel said uncomfortably.

"So what happens when the last door opens?" Mia asked curiously.

"Lucifer walks free." Castiel said and Mia took in a sharp breath, instantly thinking about what that would do to life on earth and the world that she would be raising her baby in.

"Lucifer? I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

"Dean, that's what I've been trying to tell you. Remember when I said that demons were created when an angel fell?" Mia asked and Dean just looked at her waiting for her to finish what she was saying. "Lucifer was that angel."

"She's smart, Dean, you should listen to her more often." Castiel said with what was almost a smile in Maria's direction before he looked back at Dean. "Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2000 years?"

"To stop Lucifer." Dean whispered in realization.

"It's why we've arrived." Castiel said.

"Well, bang up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. It's nice" Dean said with a shake of his head.

"Dean, come on. Be fair." Mia said to him with creased brows, but he ignored her.

Castiel looked down at her before he started walking closer to Dean. "We tried. There are other battles. Other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one, we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of hell. I can throw you back in."

"Castiel?" Maria asked knowing that he was about to leave, but she had some questions for him too.

"Yes, Maria?" he asked.

Now that she had his full attention she felt a little taken aback. "Um, why is it that I could hear you when Dean and everyone else couldn't?"

"Because you are an abomination in the eyes of us angels." His harsh words almost brought tears to her eyes.

"So it's because of the demon blood in me?" she asked timidly.

But Castiel shook his head. "No, it is because you are one forth angel." His words stopped her ability to breath and she looked at him like he was crazy. She was sure that Dean was giving him the same look, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Castiel to be sure. "Your grandmother mated with an angel and gave birth to the abomination that was your father. We were relieved when he sold his soul to save your mother. It meant we didn't have to take care of him."

Castiel calling the father that she barely remembered an abomination pulled her out of her shocked state. "So my father was a Nephilim?" she asked.

Castiel gave her a single stone faced nod in confirmation. "Yes, your powers, unlike Sam's, do not come strictly from the blood of Azazel."

"So that's why I could still use them after we killed Yellow Eyes." She thought out loud to herself.

"Correct." Castiel got too close for comfort and glared down at her. "I advise you to use your powers wisely. Misuse will not be tolerated." And with those last words he disappeared in a whoosh.

When she finally looked over at Dean it was to see that he was staring at her like he had suddenly sprouted another head. "Son of a bitch." She whispered before she spun on her heels and went into the bedroom.

A/N: Please forgive any typos or mistakes in this chapter. I have no excuse I just know I probably missed a lot in this one. Lol.