Helloooooo my loves! Did you all miss me? No...? Maybe...? Well I missed you guys! Anyways, did anyone see the new season 9 promo with Crowley and Castiel? Can I just say that I was strangely attracted to Crowley's voice? I mean...damn...

Ehem, besides that, I finally finished up this little chapter for you all. And let me tell you I am getting so excited because...Cas is starting to have doubts! Woo! We're getting one step closer to this delicious scene I have scribbled down and it is a hot one. Like sizzling, smoking hot. Okay, I'll stop talking. Thank you for all the new favs and follows guys! For you newcomers and for those who have any questions, head on over to my tumblr page and ask away. Anonymous questions are allowed, don't be shy, I won't bit I promise!

December 19, 2008

Okay, finally…after months of Dean hitting cases back to back to back…finally we've slowed down. Ever since Dean told us about Hell and the things he did, it's like he's been working his ass off to try and forget everything. And as much as I can (try) to see where he's coming from, seriously we just all need a few days break. I mean, this last job that we just finished up we had to deal with sirens. They only prey on men so I wasn't a target but my brothers certainly were. And…the damn siren got my brothers so focused on how much they were supposed to "hate" each other that they did not even notice when I went missing! Yeah, their sister goes missing about half way through the case—right after we ran into that FBI agent Nick. See he was the siren and already had his spell working on Dean by the time he kidnapped me. Locked me in this old, smelly basement. The siren was all "you're a female, and a strong one—I do not wish to harm you blah, blah, blah" anyways after Sam and Dean nearly killed each other because of that ugly ass siren they finally got their shit together and saved me. Bobby had to come in to save my brothers from themselves, they nearly killed each other. And afterwards Dean and Sam gave each other a very awkward apology—then tried to give me one. Morons. I might as well try and get some sleep. Knowing Dean we're going to hit the road first thing tomorrow…

Melody felt her heart racing and pounding against her chest. She held on to Dean's arm tighter as he led them down the dark, cold alley. "Where the hell is he? Where is Sam?" she whispered harshly looking around everywhere for a sign of her little brother. They had been dealing with one of their more interesting cases. They had been informed by Bobby about a town filled with people who should be dead but weren't dying. They figured it was another of the sixty-six seals and headed over as quickly as possible. Melody and her brothers had tried to contact the last person who had died in the town—a kid, Cole Griffith. When they first tried, Alastair had appeared, attacking Dean and Melody but Sam was unaffected by his powers. Instead, Sam was able to throw Alastair out of his body and send him away. When Dean and his sister asked their little brother about how or why his powers seemed to suddenly triple in strength, Sam just shrugged and said he had no idea. But, Dean and Melody both knew he was lying and they were equally hurt by it.

Later after their encounter in the graveyard, Dean suggested that they actually become spirits and project themselves on to the astral plane. Pamela Barnes helped them and sent the Winchesters across the veil where they found and met Cole, learning tips and tricks on how to move and teleport themselves as spirits. They also met the reaper Tessa—the very reaper who was assigned to take Dean several years prior when they had all been in the car accident with their father. Unfortunately, Tessa was taken by the very demon Alastair. The Winchesters were able to track her down to a funeral home covered in sigils in what Sam coined as "demon invisible ink".

As they entered, they had found two reapers at the center of the room surrounded by a large sigil. The Winchesters were not able to save them, getting trapped outside of the room by an iron chain. Alastair appeared to them again—this time in a new body—and Sam was unable to use his powers on the demon again. All three watched as Alastair killed off one reaper using Death's own scythe and he was about to kill off Tessa but, the Winchesters—using their new ghost skills—were able to drop a chandelier onto the sigil breaking it and releasing Tessa.

When they escaped the funeral home, Dean and Melody could not find their brother anywhere. They told Tessa to get to safety while they searched for him. They were coming up empty, and both Dean and Melody were starting to get more than a little worried.

Dean reached back, gripping his sister's arm as they rounded a corner—

"You can't run…Dean." Alastair stood a few feet away from them, scythe in his hands, grinning at them. Melody felt her brother push her further behind him, and she tried to power up. She wasn't sure if her powers would work on this plane, but hopefully they would do something.

Alastair glanced at her, "And you can't protect baby sis either." He took a step towards them, "Not from me. See I'm inside that angst-y little noggin of yours. And when I get through with you—me and little sister are going to have some…real fun times."

Dean started to push them back as Alastair slowly advanced on them, menacing smile growing wider and wider with each step. Before he could get another foot towards them, Melody heard a loud crashing sound. She glanced up, saw lighting streak and pierce down out of the sky while thunder boomed and roared from the clouds.

The Winchesters reacted, covering their faces as the light burned brightly in front of them. When they looked back up—Alastair was gone. "Jesus…" Melody mumbled seeing a large, black scar on the pavement where the demon had just been standing.

"What the hell?" Dean panted.

"Guess again."

Melody and her brother whipped around to find Castiel standing just behind them. Melody couldn't help it. She felt a tiny grin creep onto her face. They hadn't seen the angel in over a month, and they'd been so busy, Melody hardly had time to even think about him. But now that she was looking at him again…she couldn't help but feel a little bit happy. Why? Melody had no idea. And at a time like this she wasn't going to question something like that. Later though, when she was alone or writing in her journal…she'd ponder over why she'd felt so relieved to see Cas standing there in front of them. And she still wouldn't have any clue as to why. No…she wouldn't know that answer for a few more years.

So instead of questioning that, she decided to ask the more obvious question, "Cas…what…what just happened?"

"What just happened?" he reiterated, looking her in the eye, "You and your brothers just saved a seal. We captured Alastair. Melody…Dean—this was a victory."

"Well, no thanks to you." Dean said, eyes rolling, shoulders slumping up in an annoyed shrug.

Castiel's brow creased, "What makes you say that?" Melody had to wonder that too. She thought her brother would be relieved or hell even a little happy that the angels were able to catch the demon.

"You were here the whole time?" she heard her brother ask and then she understood and could see why Dean would be a little annoyed if not a little pissed with the angels.

"Enough of it." Castiel answered, glancing at their surroundings. Melody rolled her eyes at him.

"Well jeez Cas thanks for your help with the rock salt." She thought back to when they were in the funeral home. Alastair had shot herself and her brothers in the chest with a round of rock salt. And damn did it hurt. It had felt like she was getting shot by real bullets and it had sent her mind whirling for a few seconds before she'd flickered back to standing next to her brothers.

"That script on the funeral home," Castiel began explaining, "we couldn't penetrate it."

Melody felt her grimace slowly fall and saw that her brother realized the same thing as her. "That was angel proofing." Dean said, slowly nodding and thinking back to the many different sigils they'd seen across the funeral home.

"Why do you think I recruited you three in the first place?" Castiel posed the question, looking between the Winchesters. Melody felt her mouth fall open as she gaped at him,

"Wait…are you saying that…"

"You recruited us?" Dean finished for her. Castiel regarded them casually before answering,

"That wasn't your friend Bobby who called. It wasn't Bobby who told Sam about the seal."

Dean pointed at the angel, "That was you?" When Castiel nodded, a bit solemnly he heard Melody let out a sharp breath,

"Cas if you want out help, why didn't you just ask?"

"Because whatever I ask," Castiel replied—Melody thought he sounded a bit heated and slightly annoyed, "you seem to do the exact opposite."

Melody huffed, crossed her arms over her chest and gave the angel a challenging look "Oh okay feathers you really want to try and start something with—"

"Mels." Dean held up a hand stopping his sister from going on a rant. As much as he would appreciate watching his sister make Castiel as uncomfortable as possible—the angel had yet to feel the full effect of her temper—now was not the time. He looked back at his sister and gave her a warning look before looking at the angel, "So, what now, huh? The people in this town they just gonna start dying again?"

"Yes." Castiel answered simply.

"These are good people." Dean said trying to implore with the angel, "What, you think you can make a few exceptions?"

"To everything there is a season." Castiel replied and that only got an eye roll out of Melody. She huffed impatiently and eyed Cas with an air of pure annoyance. Before she could snap out a bitchy comment, Dean spoke over her, knowing full well his sister was certainly in the mood for a tirade and the angel in front of her was her target.

"You made an exception for me." Dean said, again sending a small warning look to his sister telling her with his eyes to "shut the hell up".

There was a pause; Cas watched his shoes for a long moment, taking in everything the Winchesters had been saying to him. He looked back up at them, gently reached out and took Melody's hand—not seeing her freeze and tense up—and stared at the oldest. "You're different." He stated before fluttering off with Melody in tow.

When Melody had woken up in the motel room, shooting up straight and gasping for air, she'd still felt Castiel's warm hand in hers. Why he'd taken her away back to her body, she didn't really know. Maybe he thought Dean needed some alone time? Dean had told his brother and sister about him helping Tessa help Cole move on. But…maybe Cas did that so Pam didn't have to bring back two more people from the other side. She was seconds away from dying by the time she brought back Dean. She whispered her last words into Sam's ear, telling him she knew everything—could feel everything inside of him—and that despite his good intentions, it was leading him down a dark and dangerous road. She coughed up the last bit of blood and air from her lungs, feeling Melody Winchester's long fingers grip her hand tightly…and slowly drifted away from them.

"Ruby will meet us outside Cheyenne." Sam said from the driver's seat. He felt his sister lean up from the back, stretching her arms and groaning as he continued, "She's been tracking some leads." He heard his brother and sister make equal sounds of distain, even glanced over to see them both share an eye roll.

"Look," Sam began trying to stay calm despite his growing impatience with them, "I know she's not exactly on your Christmas list, but if she can help us get to Lilith—"

"Man, work with Ruby, don't." Dean grumbled tiredly from the passenger seat, "I don't really give a rat's ass." Sam stared at him for a moment, looked at his sister posing the question silently to her and she shrugged and yawned,

"Yeah, do whatever Sam. I don't care."

The youngest felt his brow scrunch up, confusion and impatience coloring his features, "What's your problem?"

Dean and Melody glanced at each other, and their sister just sighed and sat back in her seat opting to let her oldest brother handle the answering instead. So she stretched out her body across the back seat, stared up at the roof and idly played with her necklace as she heard her big brother's voice,

"Pamela didn't want anything to do with this, and we dragged her back into it, Sam."

"She knew what was at stake." The youngest responded quickly. Melody reached up her hands and rubbed them down her face. She was most certainly not in the mood to listen to either of her brother's bitching. She could see both sides, and understood where both of her brothers were coming from. But as always, she was in the middle of them. By birth, by opinion…she was always in between Sam and Dean. And as much as she had liked being the middle child (sometimes) while growing up—dad not really relying on her, or not really fretting over her had led her to become a bit more independent than her brothers—she always hated it when it literally put her in the center of her brothers.

Dean huffed, "Oh yeah, saving the world. And we're doing such a damn good job of it." The oldest heard his sister let out a long sigh from the back. Sam paused, tried to implore with his older brother but he would not hear it and quickly cut the youngest off. "I'm tired of burying friends, Sam."

There was a small pause; all three Winchesters didn't speak for a while afraid that if they said something wrong, it would start an argument. And neither was in the mood for that right now. Sam chewed his lip for a second and tried to say as calmly and as gently as possible, "Look, if we catch a fresh trail—"

"We follow it." Dean finished, leaning against the passenger door, "I know." He blinked, closed his jacket a bit more and sighed, "Like I said I'm just…I'm getting tired…"

Melody seemed to lose her patience then. Fed up with her whiny ass brother, fed up with his shit attitude towards the freaking war they were in—she threw up her hands, shook them in the air for a half second and felt her chest puff out as she said, heatedly and impatiently,

"Well then get angry."

Sam opened up the door to their motel room, hearing his sister let out a loud yawn and Dean grumble, "Home crappy home." As all three tossed their bags down by the door, each too tired to put them in a proper place. Sam flipped on the room light—

"Winchester, Winchester…and Winchester." The siblings froze finding Uriel and Castiel standing in their room. Melody eyed Cas, felt her breath escape her lungs in one sharp, quick breath and hardly heard her oldest brother sigh,

"Oh come on." He groaned but Uriel just ignored him.

"You are needed." The angel announced to him. Cas was all but silent, standing a few feet behind and to his companion's left. He wasn't even facing them. And Melody wanted so badly for him to look at her. Just glance at her—let her know that he knew that she was standing there. But Melody quickly squashed those wants aside. She was being stupid. She was acting like a silly little girl with a silly little crush. Crush? Could it be called that? How her breath seemed to leave her lungs every time she saw him, or how every time she went to sleep, she wondered if he was thinking of her? The answer was most likely not. At least not in the way Melody would have wanted him to. Castiel was an angel. They don't have emotions like humans. And Cas would never even begin to feel what Melody was afraid she was feeling. It was just a dream—a stupid, stupid dream.

These thoughts ran through her head in less than half a second, she'd been having pretty much the exact same inner thoughts all day and had always come to the same conclusion. And as much as that seemed to depress her, she pushed it all aside and instead focused on the conversation in front of her. She felt her brow crease, confusion evident on her face while she stared at Uriel,

"Needed?" she asked him, seeking clarity. Her brother Dean however, wasn't so much looking for clarity but more…looking to tell these angels to basically shove it up their glowing asses.

"Seriously?" he scoffed, voice dipping into a growling, angry vibrato, "We just got back from needed!"

"Now, you mind your tone with me." Uriel warned him. Melody did not care to take heed to the warning, and instead let her powers come up for a second, flashed her eyes at Uriel and pointed a threatening finger at him,

"Don't." she said. One word yes, but it was filled with every promise she had that she would do everything her powers allowed. If she could so much as leave even just a tiny little mark, she'd be satisfied.

Dean got just as heated—if not more than his sister—and took a step towards Uriel, "No you mind your damn tone with us."

And Sam, ever the peacemaker—and always a bit more level headed then his temperamental siblings—took a step forward, putting a firm hand on Dean's shoulder to hold him back and held out the other towards Uriel, "Look, we just got back from Pamela's funeral."

Melody stood next to Dean as he huffed, "Yeah, Pamela—you know, psychic Pamela? You remember her. Cas," he inclined his head to the other angel, "you remember her. You burned her eyes out. Remember that? Good times!"

That got Castiel's attention. He finally looked up from the floor towards the Winchesters, mouth tight, eyes steady. And again, Melody felt all of her breath whoosh out of her lungs, her heart pick up speed and her whole body go numb. Dammit Melody, she silently scolded herself, deliberately keeping her eyes off of Cas now and putting a cold scowl onto her face as she turned to watch Uriel. Dean continued,

"Yeah, then she died saving one of your precious seals. So maybe you can stop pushing us around like chess pieces for five freakin minutes!"

Uriel, with his hands in his pockets, stated casually, "We raised you out of hell for our purposes."

"Yeah, and what were those again?" Dean questioned irritably, "What exactly do you want from me?"

"Start with gratitude." Uriel's usual calm voice, sounded to Melody like he was slowly losing control. And he probably was literally on the line and about to cross over it when Dean and Melody both scoffed. The oldest smiled sarcastically giving a silent "oh" of understanding while Melody just rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Dean, we know this is difficult to understand." Castiel spoke for the first time since they had walked into the room. But before he could elaborate, Uriel added in quickly,

"And we…" he looked back at Cas as if he was warning him not to speak anymore before looking back at the Winchesters, "don't…care." Melody saw Castiel move back to standing stiffly in front of the wall, eyes aimed straight ahead not really looking at anything. So…is there a power struggle she was witnessing here? Or something else?

"Now," Uriel began, "seven angels have been murdered—all of them from our garrison. The last one was killed tonight."

"Demons?" The oldest asked, feeling his brother and sister flank him. Uriel nodded giving him a silent "yes". Melody felt her brown scrunch up,

"How are they doing it?" she wondered aloud. She figured angels weren't entirely immortal…but could a demon really kill an angel? Sure Alastair had nearly knocked Castiel back to heaven several weeks back, but that didn't mean he could kill him…could it?

"We don't know." Uriel answered her, the tension in the room finally dissipating—if not for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Sam spoke up waving his hands around, "but what do you want us to do about it? I mean, the demon with the juice to ice angels has to be out of our league, right?"

"We can handle the demons, thank you very much." Uriel sounded annoyed again.

"Once we find whoever it is." Castiel finished the statement his companion had begun saying, shooting his eyes towards Melody for a half second before looking away again. And Melody inwardly scolded herself again. He wasn't looking at her because he wanted to…he was looking at her because he had to.

Dean silently pushed past his sister, "So, you need our help…hunting a demon?" Melody now stood in between her brothers as the oldest leaned his hands down to rest on the small, rickety table in the room.

Castiel stepped towards them, moving to be next to Uriel and joining the conversation fully as he answered, "Not quite. We have Alastair."

"Great." Dean shrugged, "He should be able to name your triggerman."

"But," Castiel stopped him, "he won't talk. Alastair's will is very strong. We've arrived at an impasse."

"Yeah well, he's like a black belt in torture." Dean stated, "I mean, you guys are out of your league."

"That's why we've come to his student." Uriel stared straight at Dean, "You happen to be the most qualified interrogator we've got."

Melody slowly shook her head, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder. "No…" she tried to say but Castiel spoke over her,

"Dean…you're our best hope."

The oldest, who had been staring down at the table, slowly lifted his eyes back up, "No—no way. You can't ask me to do this Cas—not this."

"Castiel please," Melody implored with him, squeezing her brother's shoulder. Uriel grinned at her and her older brother before stepping up and leaning down on his hands, mirroring Dean, on the other side of the table,

"Who said anything…about asking?"

And before Sam could blink let alone ask what Uriel had meant…the angels had disappeared along with his brother and sister. The youngest stared at the spot where his siblings had just been standing, felt his fists clench, jaw tighten and breathed harshly through his nose before he let out a sharp growl,

"Dammit!"

By the time Melody registered exactly what Uriel had been saying, she noticed that her surroundings had changed drastically. She no longer stood in a warm motel room. Now she was standing in a dark, cold and decrepit warehouse. She still had a hold on Dean's shoulder and unconsciously squeezed him, afraid that if she let go she would be lost or hurt. Dean looked up at her, equally as shocked. Where the hell were they?

That's when they heard a slow, deep chuckle a few feet in front of them. The Winchesters glanced over to find Uriel standing in the middle of the low-lit room, hands in his pockets. Castiel was right next to him, expression a bit more guarded than his companions.

Before long, the angels had showed the hunters where they were keeping Alastair. They had the demon chained up to an iron five-pointed star. Bright white sigil etched onto the floor underneath and surrounding the demon. Dean and Melody stared at him through the foggy, dirty window attached to the door leading into the room.

"This devil's trap is old Enochian." Castiel's deep, smooth voice explained from behind them, "He's bound completely."

Melody felt her jaw clench. No, no way were they going to make her brother do this. She gently reached out and touched Dean's arm, and thankfully he felt the exact same way. Taking her touch as a sign that said get us the hell out of here now please, he nodded once,

"Fascinating." He gripped his sister's forearm and turned around pulling her with him as he moved away from the room, "Where's the door?"

"Where are you going?" They heard Castiel ask them. The angel turned to watch them both walk away and heard Dean grumble,

"Hitch back to Cheyenne, thank you very much." They only got a few more steps, before Uriel appeared in front of them—effectively stopping them both in their tracks.

"Angels are dying, kids."

"Well boo-freaking-hoo." Melody huffed while Dean gently moved her to stand behind him. He rolled his eyes at Uriel before saying,

"Newsflash jerkoff, everybody's dying these days. And hey I get it. You're all-powerful. You can make me do whatever you want, but you can't make me do this."

"This is too much to ask. I know." Castiel said moving away from the locked room towards the Winchesters. He stopped just a few feet in front of them, "But we have to ask it."

"Why?" Melody felt her temper rise as she stepped away from her brother towards the angel, "Because you were ordered to? You're just falling in line and doing something—making my brother do something—that is completely twisted and messed up on so many different levels that—"

Dean shot out a hand, resting it on his sister's shoulder and giving it a hard squeeze. She stopped moving, her heated words coming to a halt as well. Her chest puffed up and out as she breathed heavily, trying to reign in her anger. Finally, after a long pause, Dean was sure his sister wouldn't say anything else so he looked back at Uriel,

"I want to talk to my sister and Cas alone."

Uriel watched him for a moment, eyes never wavering. He glanced over Dean and Melody towards his companion, "I think I'll go seek…revelation. We might have some further orders."

"Well get some doughnuts while you're out." Melody heard her brother snip sarcastically at Uriel. But she wasn't focused on them. She was giving her best death glare to Castiel. She was just so damn angry at him. Didn't he know what this would do to Dean? Didn't he understand how absolutely horrible and completely idiotic these "orders" of his were?

She heard Uriel chuckle darkly, "Ah, this one just won't quit, will he? I think I'm starting to like you, boy." There was a sound of wings flapping against air, and Uriel was gone.

When he was gone, Dean sighed and looked back to find his sister staring daggers at Castiel. And the angel was so ignorant, or so smart, that he was completely ignoring her deadly gaze. Dean had to admire that for a moment. He could never look away or escape that look. No matter how hard he'd tried in the past, he was never strong enough to escape it.

So he decided to try and diffuse his sister's obvious tension with a quick jab, "You guys need to walk more, you're gonna get flabby." Luckily that worked a little. Dean saw his sister's brown crease slightly as she moved her eyes away from Cas and towards him.

"Seriously?" she muttered under her breath at him. Dean just shrugged, noticing that Castiel hadn't reacted at all to the joke.

"You know," Dean shrugged, "I'm starting to think junkless has a better sense of humor than you do."

"Uriel's the funniest angel in the garrison." Cas stated, dead-serious, "Ask anyone." All Melody could do to respond to that was raise her right brow at him. Again she muttered the same "seriously"—mostly to herself. She glanced at her brother, who just shook off the comment and instead took a step towards the angel,

"What's going on Cas?" Dean posed the obvious question and felt his sister catch on. She moved to stand beside him and asked,

"Yeah, since when does tall, dark and creepy put a leash on you anyways?"

"My superiors have begun to question my sympathies." Castiel began explaining.

"Sympathies?" Dean sought clarity, and Melody wondered what he meant as well. She crossed her arms over her chest as the angel continued,

"I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You, Sam and…Melody." His cobalt eyes landed on her and Melody scowled as she felt that stupid tingling/numb sensation build up and out of her stomach. Cas didn't seem to notice her slight change in body language as he resumed his explanation,

"They feel I've begun to express emotions, the doorways to doubt. This can impair my judgment."

He moved to face away from them, leaning back to rest on a long, metal table that sat in the room. Melody couldn't help it. She felt that damn tingle in her stomach and then—God help her—a tiny little sliver of hope. Why hope? Because if Cas was beginning to express emotions, and he's getting too close to the human's in his charge…did that mean what she wanted it to mean? Did he feel or was he beginning to feel, what she'd been fighting in herself all this time?

Dean's movements brought her out of her inner thoughts as he started to pace, "Well, tell Uriel or whoever…" he stopped and stared at the door leading to the room where Alastair was chained up, "you do not want me doing this, trust me."

"Want it? No." Castiel said, "But I've been told we need it."

"Need it?" Melody asked him incredulously before throwing out her arms, "Who the hell needs him to do this? Who gave you this shit-for-brained order?" She all but demanded an answer from him, voice rising in both fear and anger. Anger, because this was not what she'd expect a heavenly order to be. Fear because…well…Dean's next words pretty much summed it up for her.

"You ask me to open that door and walk through it…" Dean said, voice trembling, "you will not like what walks back out."

"For what it's worth…I would give anything not to have you do this." Castiel's reply was simple in its tone. But…there was an ounce of sincerity to it.

And as much as Melody begged the angel and yelled and screamed and argued…he would not budge and neither would her brother. So with a heavy heart, she watched Dean gather his needed materials onto a cart and slowly wheel it into the room with Alastair. As the heavy metal door shut behind Dean, Melody reached up and gripped her head.

She turned and paced, feeling Castiel's eyes on her and she began to idly scratch at her scalp. She grumbled under her breath, words Castiel could not understand as she paced back and forth in front of him. Finally she stopped, huffed and then threw down her arms at her sides,

"Fuck!" she shouted. Castiel watched her curiously. He'd seen her angry before but never like this. This wasn't a wrathful anger though. This was the type of anger that was stemmed from worry. She was worried and afraid. And for a moment, Castiel wished he could do something to help her. But he had no idea how or where to begin. So he just let her seethe on her own and gently leaned against the table again. Before long, they could both hear Alastair's screams of pain.

That's when she snapped. Melody turned on Castiel, walking up to him and invading his space. She poked him hard in the chest, though he didn't move an inch. "Tell me right now who gave you this order."

"Melody I—"

"You know what? No, don't actually. I'd rather not hear the same bullshit answer from you." She fumed, breathed hard through her nose and stared down at her boots. "You know this isn't right."

"No…but it needs to be done." He answered staring down at her, watching a few pieces of her gold hair fall off her shoulders. She reached up, ran a hand through the thick mass of blonde locks, pushing it all to one side.

"There's got to be another way. I mean, isn't there like an angel who is a…super detective or something?" Melody asked, arms crossing over her stomach as she stared up at him, eyes conveying her nervous fears.

"We have tried to investigate ourselves. Nothing came up. This is the only way Melody—"

"Don't say that!" she cried, reaching up to grip at her ears when more of Alastair's pained screams echoed from the room. It wasn't that she didn't mind the demon getting tortured. Hell no. It was the fact that it was her brother causing the pain…but in so doing, Dean would have to relive everything from Hell.

Melody stared up at him, "Cas…please…" she was now reduced to begging the angel to make it stop. They could find out who was killing the angels another way. Not like this. Not like this. When the angel didn't answer her, only stared over her shoulder at the door she growled, released the hold she'd been keeping on her powers and reached out gripping at the lapels of his trench coat.

She held the fabric in her fingers tightly and gave him a good shake, eyes glimmering at him in the dim room. "Dammit Castiel! There's always another way! Do you understand?! There's always a second option!"

By now her powers had dissipated, eyes returning to their normal bright green/hazel color. She took in a shaking breath; chin quivering as she slowly bowed her head to his chest. For a moment, Castiel was confused. Then he realized that normally when a human female laid her head against someone, they were seeking comfort. He didn't know what to do. And as Melody gently placed her forehead to rest just over where the vessel's heart laid…he froze.

Melody kept her tight grip on his trench coat, laid her head against his chest and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She couldn't handle this. She couldn't think about how Dean was torturing himself in that stupid room all for these stupid angels and their stupid war. A war she and her brothers had inadvertently started. A war she was bound to be a part of…no matter how much she kicked and screamed about it.

And before Castiel could even begin to try and comfort the small human girl leaning against him, before his hand that was slowly being raised could come down to rest against her back…she pushed away from him and walked away to the other side of the room. He watched her leave, watched her come to a slow halt by the furthest wall and stand right in front of it.

Melody faced the wall, covering her quivering mouth with one hand, and kept the other placed against her hip. She wouldn't let Castiel see her like this. Hell she didn't even want to be acting like this. She barely flinched a few minutes later when she heard the lights burst, and merely glanced at Anna. Melody was in no mood for more angels, so she turned her back to them and shut herself out of their echoing conversation.

"You shouldn't be here." Castiel said to his former companion, glancing over to see Melody still facing the far wall, head slightly bowed. "We still have orders to kill you."

"Somehow, I don't think you'll try." Anna commented moving to stand next to him and the long table he'd been leaning against, "Where's Uriel?"

"He went to receive revelation." Castiel answered her, sending another quick glance towards Melody before looking back at the door leading to Dean and Alastair. Anna didn't miss the quick, slightly worried look she saw on Castiel's face when he checked on the Winchester girl for the second time she'd been in the room.

Anna turned back to Cas, "Why are you letting Dean do this? Why is Melody being made to suffer and watch?" Again, she saw him shoot a slightly pained and guarded look towards the blonde hunter before answering,

"She was to be used as leverage if Dean did not cooperate. Fortunately…he did. As to why I'm letting him to this?" Castiel reiterated the question before turning away and pacing—uncouniously mimicking what he'd seen Melody do a few minutes ago—and answered, "He's doing God's work."

"Torturing?" Anna asked, unbelieving, "That's God's work?" Castiel stopped his pacing. Melody had said basically the same thing to him. Where they both wrong? Or was he?

"Stop him Cas, please." Anna implored, "Before you ruin the one real weapon you have…and lose her."

Castiel ignored that last bit. He didn't truly understand what Anna meant by that and instead slowly turned to face her again, "Who are we to question the will of God?"

"Unless…this isn't his will."

"Then where do the orders come from?" Castiel queried, moving to stand in front of the long table again.

"I don't know." Anna's shoulders moved upwards in a barely perceptible shrug, "One of our superiors maybe. But not him." She walked up to the table, leaning down to meet eyes with him,

"The father you love…you think he wants this? You think he'd ask this of you? You think this is righteous?" She sat against the table now, turning her body towards him, "What you're feeling…it's called doubt."

They heard Alastair let out a loud, spluttering moan. Castiel couldn't help it; he looked at Melody again and saw her shoulders tense as she reached up to cover her ears again. And again, Anna did not miss the longing gaze Castiel sent towards Melody.

"That right there…is something entirely different. One of the most complicated, terrible and wonderful emotions a human is blessed with." Cas merely flicked his eyes over her before looking back at the door. He felt Anna's fingers graze over his hand on the table before she gently took hold of it,

"These orders are wrong, and you know it. But you can do the right thing." Anna caught his eyes again as he looked down at their hands and then back to her face. "You're afraid, Cas. I was too. But together we can—"

"Together?" Castiel looked at their hands, felt pure, raging disgust and quickly tore his hand away from her hold. "I am nothing like you." He growled in distain at her. "You fell. Go."

He walked around her, turning his back to her, effectively ending whatever it was she'd been trying to poison his mind with. He heard Anna stand from the table,

"Cas…" she tried, but he would not hear anything more from her. He turned around and stared at her, brooding and threatening,

"Go."

Anna stood in her spot for a moment longer, flicked her gaze towards Melody causing Castiel to look at the hunter too. Anna sighed, "Don't be ashamed of it Castiel. She looks at you the same way too."

With that, she flapped away, leaving Castiel to stand in the middle of the room, contemplating everything he'd just heard and just felt. What did Anna mean by that? Don't be ashamed of what? And what did Melody feel?

"Cas…?" he glanced up, saw Melody had slowly returned from the far side of the room. She had her arms crossed over her stomach, and her eyes looked slightly red and swollen.

"Are you alright?" he asked automatically. It was something she'd asked him before, and he assumed it was normal to ask that of someone else. Melody sniffled, quickly wiped at her eyes and rubbed her hands against her jeans.

"I just…I feel like something's wrong." She glanced around the dark warehouse and shrugged, "I can't put my finger on it but…I don't know it's like the air has changed or something."

Before she could get a response out of him, the angel turned and stared into the room for a half second and then disappeared from the room. "Cas?" Melody called running up to look into the room she froze, "Oh God no…"

Ciffhanger! I know, I'm evil. Buuut...I need sleep. :D Don't worry though, I'm already several pages into the next chapter. Hopefully I'll have it up by Sunday night/Monday afternoonish.

Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!