A/N: Hey guys! Happy late Halloween! XD As a gift, here's an early update. Yay! Not certain when the next will be out since currently it's no more than an idea scribbled on a piece of paper. But for now, enjoy!

"Cover each other. And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you." Bobby warned. "Ready?"

"Will it make a difference if I say 'no'?" I asked.

Bobby opened the door and we stepped out.

The first ghost we met was Ronald. A dude from last year who had been killed when we got stuck in a bank and were accused of being murderers and thieves. Which I suppose, in a way, we kinda are.

Dean only spoke with the dude for a moment though before Bobby shot him. We stared at Bobby. He gave us a reproachful look. "If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk."

We made our cautious way upstairs and started preparations. While Sam was upstairs searching for a hex box two young and glaring girls appeared. They were obviously twins, and their dresses were torn and filthy. "Bobby." One of them said.

Dean shot them and they disappeared with a ghostly giggle.

Bobby jerked his head. "Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood."

Dean started to go, but not before asking, "Opium?"

"Go!"

I hefted my gun. I was glad Bobby hadn't sent me on an errand. I was in no shape to. For some reason, my leg was still bothering me. My grace wasn't doing anything to help, and I wasn't sure why.

The girls flickered into life again, right in front of Bobby's desk. "Bobby. You walked right by us while that monster ate us all up."

"You could have saved us." The other added. I shot at them, only to have another ghost appear in front of me.

It was my mom.

"This is all your fault!" She sobbed. I faltered, and she lunged. A shot rang out from behind me and she disappeared again. I turned in time to see Bobby throwing down his gun and continuing to prepare the spell.

The doors to the kitchen slammed shut suddenly. "Dean!" I shouted.

"I'm alright!" He called back. "Bobby, keep working!"

I bit my lip, letting my left hand dip down towards my boot. I wondered if my angel blade would hurt ghosts. I had never considered it before.

I wanted to go help Dean but somebody needed to stay and protect Bobby, and as I said, I really wasn't in shape to be limping in there and taking down some angry spirit. Thankfully, Sam came barreling down the stairs minutes later.

"Sam!" I cried. "Go help Dean!"

Sam nodded, not stopping as he burst into the kitchen, firing his gun. I heard him ask if Dean was alright and in a few moments they both came staggering back with the supplies.

"You two alright?" I questioned.

They both only grunted in return, like I was an idiot for even asking. I probably was.

As Dean was reloading his gun Ronald reappeared. Dean looked up slowly and threw on a nervous grin. "Ronald. Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals."

Ronald grinned menacingly. "That's when I was breathing. Now I'm gonna eat you alive."

Dean let out a nervous laugh. "Well...come on, I'm not a cheeseburger." His face fell suddenly serious as he cocked the gun and prepared to fire it, but Ronald had disappeared.

I heard Bobby start chanting in Latin behind me. The windows blew open, and a strong gust of wind swirled through the room causing the salt lines to break. I saw some girl appear in front of Sam. She looked awfully familiar, and I placed her as the original Meg just before Sam capped her. I didn't have time to think on that one further before the Langsuir woman's spirit appeared in front of me and grabbed my ponytail. I cried out in surprise and pain as she yanked me across the room, slamming my head against the wall. My legs turned to jelly and I slid down to the floor.

I could faintly hear someone scream my name and shots rang out for several minutes. I sat in a stupor for a long moment, my brain feeling fuzzy. Finally, I managed to work myself up to my elbows and knees. I touched my head, feeling something warm and wet at the edge of my scalp. I groaned in pain, my stomach churning with nausea. I could vaguely make out my brothers combating with several different spirits. Sam seemed to be trapped behind a desk, and Dean engaged with Henriksen.

"Sam!" Dean called as he slashed through Henriksen with an iron rod.

"Cover Bobby!" Sam ordered, having no success with pushing the desk away.

Another spirit flickered to life in front of me. My mom. She kicked me in the jaw which sent me skittering sideways. "You useless kid! You were always the mistake! This is all your fault!" She grabbed my hair and yanked me upwards, so that I was barely supporting myself with my knees. Blood dripped into my eyes, making it hard to see. I gasped as something cold, her hand, reached through my chest and gripped my heart.

It wasn't until later that I would know what had really happened. According to Dean's account, Meg had tried to gut Bobby. Bobby started to drop the bowl of ingredients, but before it could hit the ground Dean swooped in, grabbed the bowl, and threw the contents into the fireplace. (I think he thought this was supposed to make him some kind of hero.)

But all I remembered was feeling the intense, suddenly scorching, heat of the fire, and seeing the unspeakable rage and agony on my mom's face as she dissipated in smoke.

My brothers told me I wasn't out for long. No more than a few minutes.

But it felt like I had been unconscious for hours. Random visions of my mom having her eyes burned out of skull haunted my dreams. They were interspersed with her cries of, "This is all your fault! You're worthless!" I could still feel her icy hand clasping my heart. I caught a few snatches of Enochian, but none of them were discernable save a few words such as "Winchesters" and "Time drawing near."

I let Sam clean, and wrap the abrasion on my skull. Luckily nothing was broken, but my leg still hurt, my jaw was sore, and my head wound stung like a bitch. Not like the others were much better off. We all had our fair-share of scars to show for this one. And most of 'em aren't physical.

Sam crashed on the couch while we were still cleaning up. I couldn't blame him. I could barely keep my eyelids from drooping. At some point, when I was stacking some books, I felt myself pitching forward. Minutes later I felt someone urging me up.

"De-an." I whined, not opening my eyes.

"Come on, Kenzie." He urged, tugging my arm. "I dug an old sleeping bag out of the hall closet. I think we'll sleep down here tonight. We'll be closer to supplies in case something happens."

I grumbled, but with Dean's help managed to slip into the waiting sleeping bag on the floor beside me. I was out like a light within moments.

It was much later, in the wee hours of the morning, that I was woken by a familiar voice. Well, two familiar voices actually. One was Dean, but the other… My eyes snapped open. I didn't move a muscle. In fact, I was barely breathing.

"Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance." Dean was saying. The voices were coming from behind me, which meant that they must have been in the kitchen. "You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest."

"But you didn't." Castiel replied. I held back a scoff. That sounded like the Cass I knew.

Even though Dean's voice was hushed, I could tell he was pissed. "I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos—you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

"Read the Bible." Cass retorted. "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah? Then, why didn't you fight?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

We? Who the hell was we? I wondered if that Zachariah dude was behind all this. He did say something about being Castiel's superior. Does that mean that Cass was taking orders from him?

"Concerns?" Dean's tone held a note of incredulity. "There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?"

"There's a God."

"I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is He waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does He lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?"

"The Lord works—"

Dean cut him off. "If you say 'mysterious ways,' so help me, I will kick your ass." There was a pause. "So, Bobby was right...about the witnesses. This is some kind of a...sign of the apocalypse."

"That's why we're here. Big things afoot."

That didn't sound good. And it got me to wondering if maybe that was why Cass was sent to bring me back to life, the same as my brother. I didn't like the thought.

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

"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the sixty-six seals."

"Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld."

"Those seals are being broken by Lilith."

My heart jolted.

"She did the spell." Dean stated. "She rose the witnesses."

"Mm-hmm. And not just here. Twenty other hunters are dead."

My heart literally stopped this time. My thoughts turned immediately to Dylan and Emma. I had to get in touch with them.

"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor."

I realized that she probably hand-picked my mom just to torture me. The thought made me simmer inside. I wished with all my might that we could find that bitch, so I could shiv her ass.

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest." Dean stated.

"It doesn't matter. The seal was broken."

"Why break the seal anyway?"

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

"Okay. Last one opens and..."

"Lucifer walks free."

I don't think it's healthy for a person to have so many heart failures in such a short amount of time. I remembered Cass telling me about Lucifer back the year when I first met him.

I thought back to a conversation we'd had that time at that church in Texas.

"There was also Lucifer." Cass had said. "Before he fell."

"Yeah, that's right. He rebelled or something so God threw him out of Heaven, right?" I had replied.

Cass had also said something about needing my brothers' help, too, and something else about it not being time.

Well, apparently the time is nigh.

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

"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me. Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?"

Dean paused. "To stop Lucifer."

"That's why we've arrived."

"Well...bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice."

"We tried. And 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."

I swallowed hard, and then cringed internally. Now Cass was starting to sound a little too scary for comfort. I wondered if I should roll over or something just to break the tension between them, but I didn't have to because I heard the sound of wings and knew that Cass had left.

I didn't sleep so great after that.

When I woke the next morning it was late, and both of my brothers were already up and talking in the kitchen. When Dean realized I was awake he waved me in, too. I groaned as I pulled my aching body up and smoothed down my hair. Flopping down in a kitchen chair, I listened with mock surprise as Dean explained what Cass had told him. Though, maybe it wasn't mock because I was still pretty shocked about the whole Lucifer thing.

When he finished Sam seemed stupefied. I was the first to break the silence. "So, essentially, we're screwed to hell."

Dean raised his eyebrows and sighed. "Guess so." We sat in silence for a while, until Dean suddenly frowned deeply. "Wait a second. The other night, when that Langsuir ghost was trying to gut you, she mentioned something about that friend Dylan of yours."

My heart stopped. "Y-Yeah. Something about hunting him down and killing him." It was the truth. Sam gave me a funny look.

Dean's expression darkened and he looked at me sternly. "She said something about him being a 'monster.'"

I hid my fear, and shrugged calmly. I tried to keep the tremor out my voice as I spoke. "She probably just meant it in the context that we're all monsters. You know, hunters in general."

Dean stared at me for the longest minute of my life, unblinking. I stared back.

It was a contest of wills. He would know I was lying if I looked away, so I watched him steadily.

Unfortunately for me, my big brother had gotten even better at digging information out of people and seeing through lies since he got back from Hell.

"You're lying." He stated simply in his menacing 'I'm-the-big-brother-here' tone.

I broke.

"Dean, look I-I-I—he's good! He doesn't hurt people anymore!"

Dean stood up, letting the chair fly back. "Anymore?" He thundered, slamming his hand on the table. I flinched and Sam stood as well obviously sensing the need to break up the rare feud between his oldest and youngest sibling. "What the hell is he?"

I wished to God I wasn't trembling. "A werewolf." I said meekly.

"A—" Dean turned away for a moment. Finally he looked back, muttering, "Great. I think I need a drink." He directed to me in a louder voice, "How long have you known?"

I swallowed hard. "Since we met."

Sam and Dean both stared at me now. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Bobby picked the opportune moment to enter the kitchen with a, "You idjits fix any coffee yet?"

He froze when he saw the incensed looks on my brothers' faces, and the shamed one on mine. "What happened?" he asked.

"Bobby already knows." I muttered, crossing my arms protectively.

Dean stared at me, his mouth gaping before tuning to Bobby to give him the same look. "You knew my sister was dating a freakin' werewolf and didn't tell me?"

Bobby glanced at me, but I didn't meet his gaze. He looked back to Dean. "I promised her to keep it a secret, until she found a way to tell you two. I didn't plan on her having told you a year late though."

I drew a deep breath. "I'm sorry Bobby. I should have told them."

"Damn straight." Dean interrupted.

I closed my mouth after that, and no one spoke for several minutes, the tension growing in the air. Finally Dean flopped back down in a chair. He rubbed his forehead, and muttered, "Maybe I need about six drinks." Then louder. "This is just super-freakin'-tastic, sister dear. You got anything else you want to tell me before I beat your ass?"

It was time. They had to know, so I could help. I silently hoped that when I managed to fix Cass he would forgive me. I closed my eyes. "Yeah. There's a lot more I need to tell you."

The kitchen was silent as I told them what had happened. I let it all spill. The past four months. Calling up Dylan and Emma to help me. Searching my mom's old house. And…then Cass.

I didn't tell him everything and every moment we spent together. Nor did I tell them about Naomi, Zachariah, or about the angels being out to get me. But I did confess that Cass was the reason I was brought back to life after Meg killed me. They jolted a bit at that. That was expected though. They'd merely thought that Dad's deal had brought me back, too.

Dean's face grew redder and redder through my telling. At one point he turned to face the opposite direction and gestured for me to continue. Sam seemed more surprised than angry, though he was definitely that too. Bobby's expression didn't change, but he did grip the countertop behind him pretty hard several times.

"And, um, that's pretty much it." I finished lamely. I glanced timidly at each of them.

Dean stood so suddenly I near fell out of my own chair. He started pacing back and forth as much as the small space in the kitchen allowed. "Dean?" I asked. He didn't answer. "Dean. Please don't hit me or anything." He never had on purpose, but there was always a first time for everything. Dean didn't stop pacing. Sam was biting his lip and looking down, and Bobby had crossed his arms over his chest. "Look guys, I'm so, so sorry. Cass told me not to tell you and I was naive to believe him then, but, I mean, he was an angel and you know I've always kinda believed and—" I didn't know what else to say. I felt tears sting the back of my eyes.

Dean converged on me in an instant, gripping my arms and slamming me back against the wall. "Dean!" Bobby and Sam let out simultaneous cries as they both made ready to pull Dean off of me. I gasped, even though he wasn't being overly rough. In fact his grip wasn't all that tight either, but it was tight enough to restrain me.

Dean looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped and turned away again, still not relinquishing his grip on my arms. Finally he ground out, "So you've known the whole time?"

"Yes."

Dean's jaw tightened again. I saw him take a deep breath, and his grip loosened. I decided to play what I could: I threw out the puppy-dog eyes. "I'm really sorry, Dean." I whimpered, only half acting.

He gave me another hard look. "How could you not tell me about all this?"

I shook my head. I didn't have an answer other than what I had already told him. "I'm so sorry."

Dean shook his head. "No see, if you were sorry, you would have told us in the first place. We don't keep secrets in this family."

I shoved his hands off of me, suddenly angry. "Don't keep secrets? Really, Dean! How about not telling us about selling your soul, huh? Or about Hell?"

"I did tell you! And I already told you, I don't remember it!"

That was a load of BS. I could see right through him, even if the others couldn't. "Eventually! After we pried it out of you!"

"She's right, Dean. We've all had our fair-share of secrets."

Not a smart move Sammy. Not. Smart. Dean turned on him. "Yeah? And how well did it work out for us, huh? When does keeping secrets from one another ever do us a damn bit of good?"

Sam sighed. "Look, don't think I'm not still pissed at her because I am." He shot me a glare. "But that doesn't mean that she's the only one who has ever lied in this family. At least now we know, and she can help us because she knows about this Castiel."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I never said I knew him well. Just every now and again we have a chat, ya know?" I lied.

"That you didn't tell us about." Dean snapped.

I ground my teeth. "Look, I said I'm sorry. Take a swing, whatever, I don't care. But whatever is happening right now—is big. This whole apocalypse thing is way more important than you being pissy because I kept a few little secrets."

Dean shook his head. He was turned away, so I couldn't see his face. His hands, which were clenched into fists, relaxed. I felt myself letting out a breath of relief. He spoke quietly. "You could have been killed. I never would have forgiven myself if…" He trailed off, and I forced myself to swallow the lump of guilt in my throat.

My brother whirled around suddenly. The next thing I knew, his fist connected with my cheek. I fell sideways, thankfully not cracking my head on the wall again as I fell.

"Dean!" I heard Sam cry, and Bobby swore.

There was the sound of a slamming door. Moments later I felt someone crouching beside me as I tried to blink the stars from my eyes. I waved them away, and stumbled as I stood. "'M alright." I assured them.

Bobby took ahold of my arms and sat me in a chair. He scoffed. "Yeah, I'm sure you are, girl."

I touched a hand to my cheek. It was already starting to swell a bit, and I knew I was already colorful from the fight last night. Groaning, I closed my eyes briefly. "Well that went better then I thought." I muttered.

Sam, who had just returned to the kitchen, gave me an incredulous look. "Seriously?"

I shrugged. "I'm not unconscious, am I?"

Sam shook his head, and the faintest of wry smiles appeared on his face. He put a hand on my shoulder, and with the other gently tilted my face up to the light. He gave a low whistle. "That'll be a pretty one."

The corner of my lip twitched upward. "I owe you, Sammy."

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, you do." He sat across from me. His face was suddenly serious. "He'll forgive you eventually. You know that, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I know. It'll take some time for you all to forgive me."

Sam shrugged. "True. But I understand why you did it." He gave me a knowing look. "You wanted to protect us."

I nodded, looking down. "Yeah. Pretty much."

I felt Sam take one of my hands which had been on the table. I looked at him. "You don't have to protect us, Kenzie." He said, his tone full of gentle seriousness. "You're the little sister, which means that we take care of you." He looked down. "I shouldn't have left you after Dean died. It wasn't right, and I'm still really sorry for it." He sighed. "I can't help feeling like some of what you went through last summer was partially my fault."

My eyes widened. "What? No! Sam, it was not your fault. Don't think that! It was my decisions, and my actions that landed me in this mess. Do not blame yourself for my mistakes."

He looked doubtful, but he eventually nodded. He gave me a faint smile. "So, we're cool?"

I nodded, returning his smile. "Yeah. We're cool."