To the guest review: Your review made me laugh and I had no way to comment so it has to be this way! Yes, the Winchester siblings have completely different music tastes! Lucy loves her modern music. She's into all that kind of modern rock stuff like Green Day, White Stripes, Maroon 5, Foo Fighters, the Killers, Paramore, Muse, Nirvana and especially Coldplay. That's just her style! Around her brothers, she's kinda like "okay, whatever, I'll listen to Dean's stupid music" and secretly, she doesn't mind doing so, because it's what makes Dean Dean. So, she'll find other ways to listen to her stuff, like listening to her iPod (sometimes she'll even pretend to be asleep just so she can take some time to listen to it) and listening when her brothers aren't around. I did mention briefly in chapter 17 when she was blasting her music that "her brothers would have made fun of her had they been there". But most of the time, Dean doesn't hear it, so he doesn't have a reason to complain… other than over her being grumpy about his music haha! Thanks for the review! It somehow turned into this character analysis and I am SO sorry for that.

I'm gonna post this early becaaaause guess where I'm going? Phoenix Comic Con! I'm seeing Stan Lee in person. AND I'm meeting John Barrowman and Mark Sheppard today guys. Mark fucking King of Hell Sheppard. Ahhhhhhh! Somebody hold me. Coincidentally (in regards to this chapter) I'm cosplaying as Castiel! :) Anyways:

At long last…

~o~

Chapter 28
The Angel in the Trench Coat

Just this once, I thought we might have been way in over our heads. Nothing and nobody knew what this thing was that we were dealing with. Not even the demons who were self-proclaimed know-it-alls. We had a run-in with them in a diner shortly after Pamela's incident. They talked big, but in actuality they had no plans to harm us. They knew about my angel-ness (though I wouldn't let them speak a word of it in front of my brothers) and Dean's recent road trip out of Hell. They were just as curious—and possibly even as scared—as we were. Castiel. It was an interesting name, I'll give it that. But what exactly was it? When we returned to our motel room, I tried doing a bit of research on the name, but nothing seemed to match.

I tried hard to fall asleep, I really did. But all these thoughts were clogging my mind so intently that they kept me wide awake despite my tightly shut eyes. It didn't help that the bed was uncomfortable and the TV was still on full volume. I stirred slightly when I heard quiet footsteps, but shrugged it off as Sam finally deciding to get some sleep. The sound of the door opening finally got my full attention and I opened my eyes to see the front door of the motel softly closing shut. I furrowed my eyebrows. Dean was sound asleep on the bed next to mine and Sam was nowhere to be seen. I leaped out of bed gracefully, quietly opening the door and peering out in both directions. I caught sight of Sam's figure, and chased after him, quietly enough to not alert him of anyone's company.

I followed him all the way out to the parking lot, hiding myself behind a pillar on the outside patio of the hotel. Sam approached the Impala, doing a 360 of his surroundings—as if he was making sure he wouldn't be followed. He lowered himself into the car, starting the engine and pulling quickly out of the lot. I bolted from my hiding spot, chasing after the car and shouting his name. He remained unaware of my presence as he sped off down the road. Something was up with him, and I couldn't help but think the worst. What if he'd been lying this whole time and he really was the reason Dean was out? It would explain the guilt written plain across his face. I frowned, shaking my head.

"Where the hell are you going, Sammy?" I whispered, sounding almost defeated.

"I don't think he can hear you." I jumped, holding back a small squeak of surprise. Jesus, he had to stop doing that. I turned to glare at him. "Geez, should I get you like a warning bell whenever I'm about to pop up. You seemed used to it in Mystery Spot."

"Yeah, well, in Mystery Spot you were the only person I talked to, so I really didn't have anyone else to expect," I grumbled. Gabe grinned, popping a red lollipop out of his mouth. I suddenly laughed, causing him to look over at me, amused and questioning. "I just pictured you wearing a cowbell, and…" I broke off, giggling. He laughed loudly.

"You and your twisted mind, Lucy-Loo."

My smile slowly faded as I looked down the street where my brother had driven off. "Why didn't you just tell me Dean was alive?" I asked softly. He raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a much sassier look than I could ever muster. I rolled my eyes, holding back laughter. "Yeah, okay, stupid question. I get why. Okay, well then Mr. Smarty-Pants, where is Sam going? There's something up with him lately."

Gabe frowned, looking at me apologetically. "I honestly don't know," he said. "He is acting weird though, and I don't know if I like it. I'll keep an eye on him for him if you want. It shouldn't be—"

He cut off abruptly, turning around the face the hotel behind us with an unreadable expression. I heard the low beginnings of the same ringing from the séance begin. His amber eyes became hooded and dark and with the blink of an eye, he vanished. I glanced around the area, searching for him, but he was gone. Shattering glass broke my attention, and I gasped. The windows in one of the rooms exploded, scattering glass in every direction. I recognized the room as the one my brothers and I had been staying in, and the one in which Dean currently was sleeping. Well, okay, he probably wasn't sleeping now. I bolted inside the motel, racing up to our room and nearly crashing into Bobby.

He grabbed me by the arms, slowing me down, but still looking panicked. "Do you hear that?" he asked me. The ringing was louder now to the point where it was almost deafening. We ran to the room, bursting in roughly. Bobby immediately tried to cover his ears, overwhelmed by the terrible sound inside the room. For some reason, I was just barely fazed by it. It came off as nothing more than a minor irritation. Dean lay screaming on the floor, broken glass surrounding him and raining down on him. His hands were slightly bloody from where the glass had sliced into his skin. I rushed over to him, pulling him up and hurriedly ushering him out of the room and to safety.

~o~

Bobby, Dean and I sped down the road in Bobby's old '71 Chevelle as Bobby pressed it as far as it would go. We wanted to be far away from that motel where the monster had found us. Dean snapped his phone shut after a phone call with Sam, sighing wearily. Apparently Sam had gone to "go get a burger" at 2 in the morning.

After a few moments, Dean spoke up. "We're gonna summon this thing."

Bobby and I both turned to stare at him, a mixture of surprise and disbelief on our faces. "You can't be serious," Bobby grumbled.

"This thing could be really dangerous, Dean. I mean, it burned Pam's eyes out, in case you don't remember that," I cried. I knew that it was the best thing we could do, and honestly I was to the point where I wanted to deal with this creature face-to-face. But after the whole incident with Pam, I was scared. I didn't want it to hurt any more of us.

"I know," Dean said pointedly. He reached behind him and pulled out the knife we had taken from Ruby—the one that could kill demons quickly and easily. "That's why we've got to be ready for anything. We've got the big-time magic knife. Bobby, you've got an arsenal in the trunk. Lucy, you've got that weirdo power thing that still really freaks me out—"

"Thanks."

"Point is, we can take him. We can at least try."

"This is a bad idea," Bobby said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more," Dean noted, "but what other choice do we have?"

"We could choose to live."

"Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me. That much we know, right? I've got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand."

Bobby huffed, shaking his head slowly. "Fine. But we should at least get Sam in on this…"

"No," I replied immediately. "Are you kidding? No, he'd throw a fit."

"He's better off where he is," Dean agreed.

~o~

We winded up inside a large, red barn, electing it would be the perfect place to perform a summoning ritual—rural and nearly abandoned, far away from civilization. We used spray cans to coat the walls, ceiling and floor with a variety of symbols, covering anything that we thought this thing might have been. I'd be damned if it didn't work on the monster. My arms hurt from the heavy-duty art project, but I was satisfied with our work.

"Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe," Bobby told Dean when we were finished, admiring his own handiwork. "How you doing?"

Dean looked down to his own table he had set up. Various weapons of every type imaginable were displayed across it. "Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife. I mean, we're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of," he answered.

"This is still a bad idea," Bobby warned, shaking his head.

"Yeah, and I have an even worse idea," I announced. "I'm going to guard the outside, make sure this thing doesn't come with a locked and loaded army."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "You're right, that's a terrible idea."

I shrugged casually. "Someone's gotta do it," I said lightly. I stepped outside the barn before they could protest. "Have fun summoning." If I was being honest here, I just wanted to be the first to see this thing for myself. I wanted to look upon the creature that pulled my brother from Hell, indifferent to the possible danger. And so…I waited. Outside the barn and hidden behind a bush, I waited for it.

~o~

This thing sure liked to take its sweet time. Dean and Bobby summoned mystery monster a whole half an hour ago. I was starting to think that maybe Bobby hadn't performed the ritual right or that the monster just decided it didn't want to show up… if that was possible for it to do. I felt a light sort of breeze kick up from where I was sitting on the ground and boards on the barn started to jiggle a bit. Enough for me to notice the sudden change. I crouched behind the bush again, pulling my knife from my pocket and preparing to attack if I needed to.

A man was suddenly before my eyes in a flash of bright, white light. The grip on my knife tightened in fear, though I became confused. But this man looked so ordinary. He was dark haired, handsome, tall—though shorter than Dean and Sam—and dressed rather formally. He wore a suit-like outfit, with the front of the black jacket unbuttoned to reveal a white button up and a deep blue tie. Most notably, he had on a long tan trench coat that covered almost his entire body. This was Castiel? Maybe I was mistaken. The man began to walk towards the entrance of the barn, wind kicking up with him as he walked. I took that as my cue to step out from my hiding place.

"Yeeeah, okay," I started loudly, stepping in front of the barn doors with my knife held defensively in front of me. The man stopped, his deep blue eyes squinting and his head tilting to the left slightly. Wow, he was adorable—he was like a cute, 6 foot tall puppy who lost his way from home. But, nevermind that. "Not so fast there, bucko." The man merely blinked at me, serious and emotionless. "You Castiel?" I asked him.

"I am," the monster spoke for the first time. His voice was deeper than I expected, and gravely. His voice held an aura of power, as if he held some sort of high rank. Like he was a soldier. I had only heard a few creatures talk like that before and they were all of the same species. They were… no. Castiel couldn't be… could he? "And you are Lucy Winchester."

It wasn't a question, but I answered anyway. "I am."

Castiel stepped towards me, causing me to raise my knife slightly in forewarning. "I am afraid I have to ask you to kindly move out of the way," he requested, though there was a slight hint of warning in his voice. A sarcastic smile made its way onto my face.

"Uh huh, nice try."

Castiel peered down at the knife in my hands, which was getting threateningly closer to him with each move he made. Finally, a hint of emotion appeared on his face. It was subtle and almost impossible to notice, but for a split second he looked superior and arrogant. "That knife will do you no good," he said. I didn't let my guard down despite the claim.

"Won't it?"

"I am an angel, Lucy," Castiel revealed. An angel. Maybe I had been right. The angels always spoke with this aura of authority—like a soldier. Much like I thought of Castiel. The white light that had appeared when he did fit the bill. Then there was the ringing and the reason why I was unfazed by it—I was an angel too I guess. Maybe the sound of angels couldn't affect other angels. But nevertheless, I couldn't let myself believe him right off the bat. That would be gullible. "I was aware you are quite familiar with the angels."

"An angel? Really?" I forced myself to appear skeptical. "Prove it."

A flash of lightening struck and I gasped as I witness a pair of shadowed, black wings appeared behind Castiel's back. Never in all my encounters with the angels had I ever seen an actual pair of wings. I wasn't even sure they actually had them. But there they were and they were beautiful. Yep, I definitely believed him. Castiel mistook my slightly widened eyes for fear.

"I mean you and your brother no harm," he assured. "I just wish to speak to Dean. He summoned me."

I huffed, relieved that this Castiel guy seemed to be telling the truth, but utterly perplexed with the situation overall. "What are you, some loyal boyfriend or something?" I breathed. Castiel squinted in confusion again and I shook my head. "Don't answer that. But just tell me something… Castiel. Why did you drag my brother from Hell?"

"That was one of the subjects I had wished to discuss. You may follow and listen in if you wish. It is of no concern to me if you are present," he offered. I scoffed.

"Gee, you sure make a girl feel special." I didn't even give him a chance to give me that stupid, squinty-eyed confused look. "Fine. Do what you need to do. But you hurt them? I find some way to hurt you. Got it?"

"I understand."

Reluctantly, I stepped aside, allowing Castiel to do his thing. I watched him closely. The wind kicked up around him and the metal on the roof of the barn quaked violently, close to shooting straight off the top. The barn doors in front of him openly slowly, snapping the bolt I knew Dean and Bobby had placed in front of it clear in half. I stayed out of the angel's way as he entered, taking note of the lights that burst when he walked under them, shooting sparks into all directions. I rolled my eyes. Angels were such drama queens.

Bobby and Dean began to shoot at him, loud bangs mixing into the already noisy atmosphere. Castiel didn't even flinch as they hit his body, continuing to advance on them like they were mere taps, not taking his eyes off my brother. Once they realized the bullets were ineffective, they stopped, exchanging a look of pure terror. Dean tensed, stepping back to reach for Ruby's knife, staring down Castiel. The noise had toned down and pretty much every light in the barn was busted. I entered the barn, arms crossed over my chest and watching the scene in front of me with interest and amazement.

"Well, that was dramatic," I piped. Dean's eyes flicked over to me, and I spotted a million questions in them. 'What the hell are you doing?' 'Where were you during all of this?' 'Why the hell did you let this thing in?' 'Whose side are you on?' I ignored him, still addressing Castiel. "You know, a simple hello could have worked." Castiel didn't even glance in my direction, keeping his eyes locked on Dean. I spared a glance at Bobby. He silently asked me the same questions as Dean, but I ignored him as well.

"Who are you?" Dean barked, electing to brush off my commentary.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," the angel answered. I snorted.

"Kinky," I said, smirking. Dean glared at me. It sent a clear message—'shut the hell up'. I hopped on top of the table, deciding to observe the scene in silence. Clearly, my jokes weren't appreciated. Dean switched his glare to Castiel.

"Yeah, thanks for that," Dean snarled, and then plunged the knife into Castiel's heart. I raised my eyebrows, knowing full well this plan was going to fail miserably. I didn't know a lot about angels, but I was absolutely positive there were very few things that could kill them… including a demon-killing knife. And low and behold, I was correct. Castiel looked down at the knife, letting it clatter to the ground after pulled it out easily, as if were just a minor inconvenience. Which, well, it probably was it him. Could angels even die? I still could. Well, then again, I'm not fully an angel.

Dean stared at him, dumbfounded. Bobby was quick to act, swinging the crowbar he armed himself with at the angel's head, but Castiel was quicker. The angel grabbed the crowbar mid-swing, not even looking at it, and forced Bobby to lower it. Castiel raised two fingers and touched them lightly to Bobby's forehead. Bobby instantly became limp, dropping to the floor in a second. It was then when I began to get worried. What had he done to Bobby? Was Bobby okay? And what was with that two finger head touch thing?

"Hey, you told me you weren't going to hurt either of them!" I angrily called out. Castiel turned to me, looking at me innocently with those big blue eyes.

"I didn't harm Robert Singer. I merely rendered him unconscious," Castiel explained. I calmed down, relieved, but still wary. That still didn't explain the two-finger head touch. It seemed like I saw that everywhere since I started dealing with angels. I'd seen Zachariah do it to me to revive me. After the car crash shortly before my Dad had died, I felt the ghost of a touch to my head when Michael was the one to resurrect me. Now I had seen Castiel do it to give Bobby some nap time. The only other time I'd seen it done was by… Gabe. But—that didn't make sense. He wasn't an angel, he was a trickster. Unless…

Oh my god. Oh my god.

It made sense. He told me he was in "witness protection". He couldn't die from a bloody stake like Tricksters were supposed to. He could make things appear out of nowhere and create whole alternate worlds. To transport me places, he always used two fingers to the head, just like I'd seen other angels do. He got all funny and disappeared when the stuff at the motel happened—stuff I believed had to do with Castiel, an angel. Holy crap. I mean, really, holy crap. Gabe was an angel. Maybe he was even my "guardian" angel, which would explain the fact that he had been watching me for almost my entire life and chatting me up since I was seven. I couldn't jump to conclusions on that. But still. Holy shit.

I snapped back to reality when I heard Dean's voice hissing out my name. I shook off the shock of my realization and took in the situation around me. Castiel had moved to the table where I sat and was flipping idly through one of Bobby's books. I was tempted to snatch the book from his hands and warn him not to touch anything, but I decided against it. I looked to Dean, questioning him with my eyes.

"What are you doing?" he mouthed, the words barely visible in his hushed tone. He gestured to Castiel, taking clear notice of how I made no move to attack the angel, or even flinch away from him. I rolled my eyes.

"I just want to hear what he has to say," I mouthed back. Similarly, the words came out slightly. Dean glared, shaking his head.

"You do not need to do that, I can hear what you are saying," Castiel interrupted, not looking up from the book.

Of course. "Right," I said out loud.

Dean glanced from me to the angel. He finally decided to fixate his glare on Castiel, going into defense mode once again. "Who are you?" he repeated.

"Castiel."

"Yeah, I figured that much. I mean what are you?"

Castiel finally looked up from the book in his hands, his attention returned to my brother. He stared at Dean with such intensity that I actually felt a bit uncomfortable. "I am an angel of the Lord."

Dean was speechless. He stared right back at Castiel, his expression becoming dark and dangerous. "Get the hell out of here." His voice clearly said that he was not in the mood to be messed with. "There's no such thing."

I rolled my eyes heavily, turning to my brother in disbelief. "Really, Dean? After everything we went through, you still don't believe in angels?" I scolded him. Dean laughed without humor.

"Lucy, for the last time, those were dreams. Not angels," he said sternly.

"Yeah, okay, then dying must come with some kind of weird acid trip," I bit back, sarcasm in full effect. "'Cause for a dead girl, I had some pretty vivid dreams—"

"Alright, enough!"

Castiel moved away from the table, inspecting my brother with mild interest. "This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith." Dean's eyes narrowed. "I don't understand your lack of faith, with your own sister being—"

I knew immediately where he was going with that. "Hey!" I exclaimed loudly, turning to look at the angel pointedly with wide eyes. "Hush!"

I felt a spark of irritation as Castiel did his little squinty-eyed thing again. "You are rather bad-tempered," he noted. I scoffed, nodding.

"Yes! Yes I am!"

Dean held up his hand, attempting to back-track the conversation. "Wait. My sister what?"

"Your sister nothing," I snapped. I pointed to Castiel. "You, continue."

Castiel obliged, returning his attention to Dean. "You have no faith," he repeated. The loud crash of thunder struck. In a flash of lightening, Castiel's shadowed wings reappeared. They were just as astounding as the first time. Dean's expression turned to one of shock and awe. He peered over at me for confirmation. I sent him a look that said 'I told you so'. Dean's face fell, and he turned to Castiel, anger in his expression.

"Some angel you are," Dean growled. "You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel looked almost guilty. "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be... overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that."

'The motel,' I thought. Dean seemed to figure it out just as easily. "You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?" Castiel nodded. "Buddy, next time, lower the volume."

"That was my mistake," Castiel said apologetically. He went on to explain, "Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

"And what visage are you in now, huh?" Dean spat. "What, holy tax accountant?" I had to smile at that, but kept silent as I listened to their conversation. Even Castiel formed a hint of a smile as he glanced down, acknowledging his attire and the body he was in.

"This? This is... a vessel."

"You're possessing some poor bastard?" Dean questioned judgmentally. In all the times I'd come across the angels, I never really considered their bodies or who they could truly belong to. I remembered the faces of the angels I had met in the past, and recalled how Michael took the form of my father. Had Michael been possessing my actual father?

"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this."

Who would pray to be a live voodoo doll? Dean scoffed, frustrated. "Well, I'm not buying what you're selling, so… who are you, really?"

Castiel finally gave someone other than me that squinty-eyed look, tilting his head to the right. "I told you," he reminded. I almost laughed. With Dean's persistent doubt, this was going nowhere.

"Right," Dean clipped bitterly. "And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?"

"Good things do happen, Dean." Castiel had stepped closer to my brother, totally invading his personal space. There just more than a few inches between them.

"Not in my experience."

I gulped, the true meaning behind that statement hitting me hard. In that moment, I wanted to hug him, and remind him that everything was going to be alright. But I couldn't. Instead, I sat back and watched my brother and his savior, locked in a fierce staring match.

"What's the matter?" Castiel asked. His eyes widened ever so slightly as realization dawned on him. "You don't think you deserve to be saved." The heaviness weighed in my heart, and I knew that was the complete, cruel truth. I saw it written all over Dean's face. The urge to grab my brother into a warm embrace became stronger, but I fought it.

After a long pause, Dean finally spoke. "Why'd you pull me out?"

I looked to Castiel eagerly. That's what I wanted to know most of all. He stared, big blue eyes wide and any emotion completely unreadable. Then, with a firm finality, he responded, "Because God commanded it. And because we have work for you."

~o~

I leaned against the back of the wall, tired to every last bone in my body. My phone was pressed to my ear and my fingers pinched the bridge of my nose. Boy that was a long day. There were so many things racing through my head. Our new little angel friend Castiel. Dean's "work from God". Keeping the fact that I was apparently an angel myself from my brothers. Putting the pieces together and figuring out Gabe was an angel as well. Fighting with Jo. I didn't even know how to start to deal with this.

"Hello?"

I sighed, annoyed with the slightly clipped tone that Jo answered with. "Hi," I said softly. "Look, I'm really sorry about that whole business at the motel—"

"Yeah, what was that!" she exclaimed, wasting no time. "You just up and left in the middle of a hunt! What the hell were you—"

"Dean's back," I said simply, cutting her off and rendering her speechless.

"Wha… what?"

"Yeah, he's, um… he's alive. He was pulled from Hell by an angel."

There was silence on the other line. And then, "Are you fucking with me right now?"

I exhaled sharply. "No," I said. "His name is Castiel. The angel. I've had a few run-ins with angels before, but never this one. But, yeah, um… Dean's really alive. He's been kicking for about three days now. He's fine. The only thing he's got is a hand print on his arm where Castiel manhandled him. But he's okay. And Sam's with us too. We're actually… not killing each other, so that's a bonus."

"Wow, I… that's great, Lu! Really," Jo responded. She sounded genuinely happy, and I smiled slightly. "Look, I'm sorry. The way I've been acting is stupid and ridiculous and… I shouldn't have been so snappy with you."

I lolled my head back, bumping it against the wall lightly. The apology seemed empty and almost meaningless. "Yeah, me too." I was still trying to decide if I was being sincere.

"Well, even though Tweedledee and Tweedledum are back in the picture, we should still meet up, okay?"

I huffed lightly, the corner of my mouth twitching upward, almost sarcastically. "Yeah, for sure," I whispered. With that, we hung up, and I held my head to the side corner of my phone resignedly. Though we apologized and tried for a more hopeful mood, there was a subtle indication in the back of my mind that not everything was truly resolved between us. It was enough to stress me out.

It was funny how fast everything could go to hell. If there really was a God out there, lemme just say, he sure loved to pick on me and my family.

~o~

Ahhhhhh my angels. My sweet angels. I'm so excited!