He tried to keep his eyes on the road ahead of him, following the other cars in their little convoy. It sounded like something so simple, he didn't need to watch her but he did. Her and the boy. The men in the group who had reached the cars first had followed protocol, they'd driven the worn out bunch of vehicles to the straggling members. Almost every vehicle had a spare key hidden somewhere in it; which was useful. It saved them the trouble of having to hot-wire cars.

Once they reached the running truck, he switched spots with the driver. Allison loaded the boy into the front seat, positioning him between the two of them. He'd told Allison to hold onto him and he'd told the kid to keep his eyes shut until they were on the road. Allison was still supposed to bandage the wound; but at this rate Castiel wasn't sure that there would be a wound to bandage.

His knuckles tightened around the steering wheel as he looked over at her. Jesse was leaning against her, his head in on her shoulder. She'd bandaged his wrist and his neck. Using spare gauze pads from the truck's first aid kit and bandana's that had been tucked into the glove box. He was asleep now. Somehow, he was still alive.

That was when his attention turned to her. He wasn't sure which feeling was stronger - the anger or the fear.

He was angry because she'd defied Dean, she could gave gotten herself injured or worse by stopping to help him but she'd done it anyways. Then she healed him. She just stopped and did it.

That was why he was fearful. She'd healed him; Jesse would most likely be perfectly fine in a day or two - like nothing had ever happened. It was an incredible display of power…she knew eventually she could get to that point; Conduits were known to possess powers of that of an angel; or someone say God himself. To his knowledge she'd only ever used her powers twice - and on him. Those were smaller injuries, he hadn't been on the verge of dying. Now as he looked at her, he noticed she was paler. Once they'd gotten in the truck she'd said that she felt dizzy, and exhausted. Like she'd just run a marathon. He wasn't sure if that was because of the sheer amount of physical activity she had just taken part in or if it had something to do with the energy transference. Either way, she fell asleep shortly after the boy did.

Dean had seen the state of the boy - how would he be able to justify the fact that he had survived the trip back? Upon inspection, they would see his wounds for the most part healed - no longer posing a threat. Of course even a scratch was enough for a death sentence. The boy would still die, Castiel decided. It was a grim reality - Dean would not allow him to stay in the camp. When the boy was dealt with they would come for Allison. The Winchester knew that he couldn't use his powers anymore; he was tapped. Useless. No way could he pull of something like that. Dean hadn't seen it, he'd been so far ahead of them but the others…There were at least four other people. At the time they might have been a bit busy shooting things but if they'd seen something. Wouldn't it be a bit strange, Allison stopping and kissing some dying boy? Then that dying boy making ( what Castiel assumed ) would be a full recovery?

Allison would die too, he realized. When Dean found out, and he would find out. He wasn't sure if he'd shoot first or ask questions later. Usually, that was how he operated. This was new, this was power. That was a threat. In their time they'd come across a few people, or "things" who could heal. None of which had exactly been good…and Dean had ended up killing most of them. When he'd first realized what she was, he'd thought about what would happen if Dean found out. He'd never really thought about how he would handle it when he did. He hadn't considered it, and he should have.

He'd asked her not to tell Dean. But had he explained why? He couldn't remember. Now, when it was most important he couldn't remember a damned thing. Castiel thought about waking Allison, warning her. What could he do, really? Dean Winchester did what Dean Winchester wanted to do. He didn't seek the counsel of others. Maybe he could explain what Allison was - what she could do. Explain that she wasn't a witch, she didn't have a reaper in her service, there were no crossroads deals. It was a gift. A rare one, at that. Something told him it wouldn't be enough. Dean wouldn't care about that.

Could he somehow sell her as a healer? By definition, she wasn't exactly one…what she could do, it wasn't strictly medicinal. What camp wouldn't want their own personal healer? However, he didn't know if her powers could ward off illness and infection. They seemed to work well with lacerations and broken bones at any rate. Even if he convinced Dean that Allison wasn't a threat - he would never trust her. Not that he knew Dean to be the trustworthy type. She would be an outsider in the camp, no one would look at her the same way again. What type of life was that?

If he hadn't known Dean from the start, if he had stumbled across him on a run…Castiel imagined the same thing would have happened to him. Save for his knowledge of the supernatural and ancient texts, he didn't possess many redeeming qualities. At any rate, what was different was dangerous and Allison was so very different

Outside the vehicle the clouds grew darker. The rain slowed, and then started again. He was running out of time and ideas. While they were on the road, they were safe. Once they reached the camp all bets were off.

xxx

He wanted to wake her. He really did. He couldn't bring himself to do it. It had been a heat of the moment decision, if her powers had been on the forefront of her mind she would have tried to help the young man the second she saw him, she wouldn't have waited until they were dragging him back to the truck. She'd been desperate.

Castiel didn't want to see her hurt. She was good, he knew it. There were some people who went sour with the world, and if she had she hid it well. Maybe she didn't laugh as much as she used to, or smile as much…but he'd seen people change for the worse. If there were more people like Allison, they'd be better off.

His mind hung on those thoughts, her smile and her laugh. Since she had been brought to the camp weeks ago, he could have counted the number of time's that he'd witnessed either on one hand. His earth shattering revelations likely hadn't helped matters. They spent most of their time angry with each other and after the morning they had..

Castiel's jaw clenched. He couldn't think about that, not now. That would usher forth a whole host of feelings that he couldn't afford to handle right now. It awe a distraction that he couldn't handle He needed to focus on the problem at hand, that was all that mattered now.

He knew that he would not be able to protect Jesse from whatever would come once they reached the camp. It would be stupid of him to even entertain the idea. If there was something that he could do that would actually work in the man's favor it would be a totally different situation. Was it right? No, but there was nothing that he could do. He knew that. He leaned early on to pick his battles, there were some fights you just couldn't win - there was no point in even trying.

He had already picked his battles. Though Castiel didn't feel as if he got much of a say. He couldn't let her get hurt, she wasn't going to die for this. At least that is what he told himself. Over and over again. He would protect her, somehow.

Castiel reached over, gently nudging the sleeping woman. "Allison, wake up." He spoke softly. He was only doing it because he had to. The gates were shut behind them and the people on watch had already secured them. The truck had come to a stop in line with the other vehicles. People were grabbing their gear, what little they had managed to salvage, and were pouring out onto the grass.

Overhead the thunder rumbled and lighting up the dark clouds. It was fitting, he thought to himself.

Castiel noticed that people were watching the truck, some were trying to not be too obvious, but they had eyes on them. Beside him Allison had woken up, she looked rough. Like she hadn't slept in days. She was quietly waking up Jesse; who was still alive and normal as far as Castiel could tell. He hoped that he could get them both to the cabin before anything happened. It would allow him a little more time to think things through. That was time that he desperately needed, if he could get it.

He cautiously slid out of the old truck. He scanned the small crowd, some of the men already had drinks in their hands. Some of the camps other inhabitants had begun the ritual of coming out to see who had made it back from the run. He saw Dean, he was four cars away talking to someone, distracted for now.

Allison helped Jesse out of the car. Neither looked steady on their feet, but he didn't rush to help them. She managed to support him fine; it was probably easier now than it had been while she was trying to escape a bad situation with her life. "We should go to the cabin," Castiel said under his breath as she neared the front of the truck. "You should lay down. I can look after him." Alison looked at him, and then nodded her head. For once she didn't argue.

Castiel took the lead, avoiding Dean would be the main goal for now. Allison followed him, as quickly as she could manage. He couldn't have gone more than a few feet before he heard her call to him. Only, the voice wasn't by his side. It was behind him. Allison wasn't following him anymore. She was being held in place by a big brute of a man. His large hand was wrapped around her free arm. She was trying to pull herself away from him, but while keeping ahold of Jesse it wasn't an easy task. "Let go of her." The words seethed through his gritted teeth.

He had started in her direction but before he could reach her someone else spoke up.

"I told you to leave him behind."

The angel froze mid step. Dean was there now, striding up to them. His pulse quickened. Allison's gaze hardened. For a moment it was as if she forgot the fact that she was being man-handled. The tired woman who had been resting in the truck was gone now. She looked angry, like she would go at Dean if she was given the chance. By now - she'd have more than enough reasons to want to hurt the Winchester.

He wanted to defuse the situation, he wanted to do something. But when he opened his mouth to speak no sounds came out no matter how desperately he tried to form the words.

Allison however was not left as speechless. "He'll be fine, no thanks to you." She turned her head away from Dean, as if she wasn't concerned about his presence in the least. She tried ripping her arm away from the man again - ready to get to the cabin.

Castiel wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, that she looked away. The gun went off before she, or anyone else, could react. Allison would have fallen backwards if it weren't for the fact that she was being held in place. Jesse's body crumpled to the ground. Dean had gotten good at that. Too good. One shot was all it took.

When Allison finally looked back at Dean, the look in her eyes made his heart break. She looked confused. Her jaw was slack, eyes wide. It was shock. An expression that no one else in the vicinity shared.

"Dean," He finally found his voice. Small, broken. It sounded more like a plea than anything.

The man pushed Allison forward. He had both her arms now, and she fought him, digging her feet into the dirt, swinging her body as much as she could as if wriggling out of his grasp was a possibility.

"How did you do it?" Allison looked up at Dean, then over to Castiel. As if she could provide the answer. "He's not going to help you," Dean said as he followed her gaze.

She said nothing. Allison was much more concerned with getting away from her captor. This only seemed to make Dean angrier.

"I knew there was something about you…that you'd be trouble," The man let out a low laugh. "Then Castiel took an interest in you. That should have been my first clue. Why else would he care about you?"

That hit Castiel. It hit him hard. His hands, they'd been clenched into fists but now one was slowly reaching towards the holster that was strapped to his leg.

Dean waited a minute but Allison gave him no response. "I should never have brought you here." Dean raised the gun again, Castiel knew he wouldn't ask anymore questions. Dean probably didn't even care, he was going for the reaction. In his mind he'd already delivered Allison's sentence. Castiel knew what was coming next.

The crowd that had gathered to watch the festivities cowered and slunk backwards when the sound of a second gunshot rang through the air. Someone had wasn't sure who it had been. Another body dropped to the ground.

Overhead the sky erupted. Thunder and lightning clashed, and the rain poured down. Once again, blood flowed in Camp Chitaqua.