When Sam awoke the following morning, he was still wrapped around Ellie's small body. They had both apparently barely moved throughout the night, more than likely the effects of the previous day's incident. He gave her a gentle squeeze, and then rolled away from her and sat on the edge of his bed. She murmured quietly in her sleep, wiggling a little before falling back into her slumber. Sam stood up and stretched, tilting his head side to side. He exhaled deeply and looked back to make sure Ellie was still asleep as he moved to the hallway.

Sam walked into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. He usually didn't drink caffeine on a daily basis, but after yesterday he felt that he required a pick-me-up. He grabbed one of the mugs from the counter and poured the dark drink, inhaling the delicious scent.

"Morning," Dean mumbled as he shuffled in, grateful that his brother had already started the coffee.

"Morning," Sam repeated back to him, walking over and sitting on a chair at the table.

"Where's the kid?" Dean looked around the room.

"Still asleep," Sam muttered. "I think she's still recuperating from yesterday."

"Speaking of that," Dean walked over and sat across from his brother. "How are you doing?"

"Fine."

"Liar."

"She's out of my sight, isn't she?" Sam looked up from his coffee, giving his brother a daring look. Dean stared into Sam's eyes for a moment, then shook his head slightly and went back to nursing his cup. Cass walked into the kitchen and did the same look that Dean had done, searching for Ellie.

"She's still in bed," Dean supplied.

Cass nodded and joined the brothers at the table, looking at Sam out of the corner of his eye. The angel watched as Sam finished his coffee, then began bouncing his leg on the floor.

"Sam, I'm sor-"

"Don't," Sam held up a hand, closing his eyes.

"If I hadn't asked you to help me with the grill—"

"Cass," Dean interrupted. Sam started shaking his head, still holding up a hand to try and silence the angel.

"It was not your fault," Sam spoke quietly, opening his eyes and looking directly into those bright blue eyes across the table from him. "Do you hear me? It was not. Your. Fault."

Cass pursed his lips and tilted his head, his face turning into a frown. Dean reached over and patted him on the shoulder, trying to ease the angel's worries.

"Listen man, you've done a lot for the kid," Dean turned towards Cass. "You were the one who saved her in the first place."

"I know, but…" he trailed off, looking down at his hands on the table as he messed with his thumbs.

"But nothing," Sam replied. "You're her uncle, and she loves you."

Cass couldn't help but smile at that, and he even softly chuckled. Dean slapped his shoulder one last time before getting up to get another cup of coffee.

Ellie came scuffling through the doorway, her hair mussed and her pajamas in disarray. One pant leg was rolled up, and her shirt was riding up so her tiny belly stuck out slightly. She didn't speak, only walked up to Sam and put her arms up for him to pick her up. He chuckled and pulled her onto his lap, rubbing her back as she curled up into his abdomen.

"Morning," he rubbed the top of her head, then leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her hair. Ellie mumbled a reply, snuggling her face further into his chest.

"You hungry?" Dean walked over and poked her back. She shook her head and whined, twitching when he poked her in the side.

"Come on, El, you need to eat," Sam whispered as she finally sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Do you want a banana?"

"Nah, she wants Cocoa Puffs," Dean spoke up from where he was pouring two bowls of the chocolatey cereal. "Right squirt?"

Ellie nodded slowly, then slid off of Sam's lap into the chair next to him. Sam rolled his eyes at his daughter's preference for sugary foods instead of healthy alternatives, but shrugged it off.

"Here you go," Dean placed the bowl of cereal in front of her and dropped a spoon into it.

"Thank you," she mumbled before grabbing the spoon and taking a large bite.

"So what's the plan for today?" Dean's speech was garbled as he spoke with a mouth full of cereal, milk dribbling down his chin. He was trying to avoid the elephant in the room, as no one wanted to talk to Ellie about the incident the previous day.

"What do you want to do today, Ellie?" Cass spoke quietly, leaning forward on the table towards her.

"Nothing," she muttered, swallowing her bite of food before pushing the bowl away from her. "I'm full."

"Can you try a couple more bites?" Sam rubbed her back, and she shook his hand off before falling off the chair onto her feet.

"No," her meek voice surprised Sam as she walked to the hallway, attempting to squeeze past where Dean was standing in the doorway.

"Hey," he held his hand up, effectively stopping her from leaving the room, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," she whined, trying to push his leg out of her way. He remained in his spot, and she eventually just rested her forehead on his thigh and moaned. Dean looked up to where Sam had gotten out of his chair, giving him a concerning look.

"Ellie," Sam walked over to where Ellie had wrapped her arms around Dean's leg. "Ellie, look at me."

She didn't respond, only further stuffing her nose into Dean's pajama pants. Sam tried to gently pull her arm away, but she just tightened her grip.

"Look at Daddy, baby," Sam begged, squatting next to her. She sniffed and finally pulled away, turning and looking into Sam's hazel eyes with her matching ones that were filled with tears.

"I don't feel good," she choked out before her breathes turned into full blown sobs and she lunges into Sam's chest. He almost fell backwards from her sudden weight, but was able to steady himself and lift them both off the ground. As he stood, she sat up in his arms with her eyes widened, and threw her hand over her mouth. Sam tilted his head to the side and, just before he realized what was happening, she vomited all over his chest. He froze as she emptied her stomach, then started crying again.

"Shit," Dean ran over to the sink and grabbed a towel, coming back to wipe her face as Sam closed his eyes and willed himself not to throw up. Dean quickly grabbed Ellie from his brother, remembering that Sam had always been a sympathy vomiter.

"Cass, help Sam get cleaned up," he turned to the angel who had suddenly turned very pale.

"I don't...I don't think I can," Cass burped, then held his fist over his mouth.

Dean groaned, looking back and forth between the child he was holding out in front of him and his brother who was looking more and more green by the second.

"Fine, take Ellie to the bathroom and put her in the tub," Dean decided that since Ellie was less soiled than Sam, the angel should be able to handle at least getting her to the bathroom until Dean finished with Sam.

Cass nodded and took Ellie, holding her out in front of him under her arms and running to the bathroom as carefully as he could. Dean turned back to his little brother, and was immediately taken to the days of their childhood whenever Sam was sick and he had to take care of him.

"Come on, Sammy," Dean used the towel to wipe up most of the vomit off of his shirt, then quickly unbottoned it and threw it to the corner of the room. Luckily Sam had a tank top underneath, so most of the liquid was soaked into that rather than his skin.

Dean walked behind Sam and pushed him into the hallway. "Go get in the shower. I'll take care of Ellie."

"Are you sure?" Sam spoke with a quiet voice that cracked slightly as he talked.

"Yes, now go," Dean shoved him down the hall before turning and heading for Ellie's room. He realized quickly that they needed to do her laundry, and she didn't have any clean comfy clothes. Dean looked around and saw the AC/DC shirt that she had worn her first night hanging on the back of her door and grabbed it. He then walked towards the big bathroom where he'd hoped Cass had taken Ellie. It had the biggest tub, and was the bathroom where they stored all of the many toiletries and soaps that Jody had bought for her. He walked in the doorway and saw Cass trying to peel Ellie's shirt off, his face turned to the side as he kept randomly retching.

"Cass, I got this," Dean sighed and walked forward, then helped Ellie by pulling her shirt over her head the rest of the way. The angel mumbled a thank you and all but ran out of the room.

Once Dean got her cleaned up, he carefully toweled her off and helped her into the baggy t-shirt. He didn't have to wash her hair, but he figured out how to do a simple ponytail.

"Where's my daddy?" she whimpered as he carried her down the hall towards her room.

"He was in the shower," Dean replied, rubbing her back as he stopped outside his brother's bedroom. She felt very warm to him, but he didn't think they had a thermometer in the bunker anywhere. He used his foot to kick at the door, "Sam, you in there?"

Sam swung the door open with a concerned look on his face as he made eye contact with his daughter.

"She's burning up, man," Dean handed her over to him, becoming more and more worried by the lethargic manner she was displaying.

"Where's Cass?" Sam moved to his bed and sat down so she could curl up easier, and she began to shiver.

Dean popped his head in the hall just in time to see the angel headed their way. "Cass, can you use your mojo and figure out what's wrong with her?"

Cass nodded and came around the corner, he too looking frightened by Ellie's appearance. He walked forward and held two fingers out, looking to Sam for silent permission before applying gentle pressure to Ellie's forehead. The angel closed his eyes and furrowed his brow for a brief moment before releasing from her.

"I can't...something's wrong."

Sam's eyes widened as he looked down at his increasingly limp daughter. "What are you talking about?"

"She...I can't heal her," Cass frowned, turning to look at Dean, "I think it's from yesterday."

"Let's take her to the hospital," Sam stood up slowly as not to jar Ellie's tiny body.

"Hold up, what are we going to tell them?" Dean held a hand up in front of his brother's chest. "That she was possessed yesterday?"

"I don't care," Sam bellowed, moving around Dean. "You heard Cass, something is wrong."

"Exactly, something is wrong that an angel can't fix," Dean hissed. "What do you think the doctors are going to do?"

"Then what do you suggest?" Cass sighed, holding his hands out.

Dean tightened his jaw and looked to the floor, his eyes darting back and forth in thought. "Let's call Crowley."

"Are you serious?" Sam shouted initially, then cursed himself as Ellie whined in his arms. He shushed her and began rocking his body to soothe her.

"Maybe he knows what the hell this is," Dean gestured to Ellie as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the familiar 666 number.

"King of hell speaking."

"We need to talk," Dean growled.

"I am not your pet that can just be summoned at your every whi—"

"It's Ellie."

Suddenly Crowley appeared behind him, hanging up his phone. Dean whipped around and walked towards him, a finger pointed in his face.

"She's sick, and Cass can't heal her," Dean began his explanation, "Does this have something to do with yesterday?"

Crowley moved to where Sam was still rocking Ellie, and tilted his head before gently prying one of her eyes open. He sighed loudly, then put his hands in his pockets.

"Has she thrown up?"

"Yes," Cass grunted. "Quite violently."

Crowley nodded, pursing his lips. "It's an after shock."

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean shouted, throwing his hands to the side.

"When a child is possessed, their bodies can't handle it as well as an adult," Crowley spoke quietly as he stared at Ellie's limp figure. "She'll be okay, it usually only lasts 24 hours."

"So she basically has the demon flu?" Dean scoffed.

"That is one way of putting it, yes," Crowley shrugged. "Just let her rest, and don't let her eat anything. Her body will try to expel anything put into it like it did the demon."

"Wait, what if she gets dehydrated?" Sam said quietly.

Crowley shook his head, "As soon as the twenty four hours is up, make her drink as much water as she can."

"I'm not so sure about this," Sam moved back to the bed and sat down, carefully brushing the hair out of Ellie's face. "We can't just not let her eat or drink for twenty four hours."

"Calm down, Moose," Crowley rolled his eyes and looked at his watch, "By my count it's already been sixteen hours. She'll more than likely be sleepy the last eight."

Sam looked down at her as she began to stir, her eyes opening slightly and looking around the room.

"Mr. Crowley," she managed a weak smile, her eyelids heavy as she blinked.

"Hi Tiny," the demon gave a dainty wave, smiling down at her. He turned to look at Dean and Cass, and then winked before disappearing.

"So I guess we just have to let her rest," Cass shrugged, watching as Ellie's eyes drifted shut.

"Guess so," Sam sighed. He stood up and moved to the head of his bed, gently laying her down. He rubbed the top of her head for a brief moment before taking a deep breath and joining Dean and Cass in the hallway.

"Well this sucks," Dean whispered, running his hand through his hair.

"I know," Sam stayed in the doorway, keeping an eye on Ellie.

"One of us should stay with her," Cass spoke up, "I can take the first shift."

"No, I'll do it," Sam interjected, holding his hand up.

"Dude, you haven't even eaten yet," Dean crossed his arms. "Let Cass sit with her for a bit."

Sam tightened his jaw as he looked at his daughter curled up on his bed, then let out a long breath. "Okay. But come get me if anything changes."

"Of course," Cass nodded, then walked into the room and sat on the foot of the bed, making sure not to jostle the bed too much.

"She'll be fine," Dean clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder, pushing him towards the kitchen.

Sam took one last look into his bedroom before turning and walking in the hallway, "I hope so."