A/N: Heya guys, Hope you are excited to read the new chapter! We are getting a bit more into the mystery around the little girl in this one and some more one on one Destiel time, though still no fluff, sorry guys ;)
As for knowledge about certain creatures in this story, humor xD
Again, I own nothing so there
Chapter two
When the trio return to the bunker, they work together to bring the woman into the infirmary and put her gently down on one of the beds. Her skin has turned stark white, and her dark tresses are matted with dried blood. It reminds Dean of a morbid snow white, hunted down in the woods by the huntsman, never making it to safety.
"Examine her, find out what killed her" he orders the younger companions and without another word he goes to look for Castiel. Getting closer to the locker room, he can hear the showers still running and wonders what the former angel is doing.
When he enters the shower area, he gets his answer. Castiel has done what he was told, the evidence in the obviously girly clothing on the floor, but Dean had not expected him to get in under the shower, fully clothed with the girl in his arms. Her arms around his neck, and her legs sticking out under his arms. The soaking wet man looks up when he hears Dean enter the room.
"Cass, I meant the girl not you both" He adorned a tiny smile, wanting to smile wider, but not feeling like the atmosphere of the evening allowed for it.
"She started screaming when I let her go, so I jumped under the water with her, it seemed like the most rational given her current state of mind." The hunter's eyes take in the ex-angel standing there, white button-down shirt completely transparent, jeans that he had started wearing, dark from all the water and his hair wet in some places from when the stream had probably hit his face. He even still has his boots on.
"Have you been standing there the whole time?" he questions walking closer to the wet duo.
"I did not know how best to handle the task without her screaming in my face, so I just held her under it. She seems to have calmed down, but she will not let me move her hands."
The room was filling with steam, so Dean reaches over to turn off the water, trying not to bump into Castiel at the same time.
"Let's get you both dry so you don't catch a cold either. I have a feeling we are going to be busy for a while" Castiel nods and follows him to one of the benches on the opposite wall where he sits down. Dean gets a towel and wraps it around the girl, carefully pulling her out of Castiel's arms, tugging her close to his chest.
"She seems to have fallen asleep again" The ex-angel's voice sounds tired and wrought with worry. He guesses from the look on Dean's face that it didn't go well with the mother but doesn't comment on it, he knows Dean is not the talkative type when it comes to the matters of feelings.
Instead, he gets to work on removing his own wet clothes to dry off with another towel that Dean has placed on the bench between them. He should probably go to his room to change but decides that he is just going to trek water everywhere, so he might as well do it here where the floor is already wet.
Dean is focused on the slumbering girl in is arms and concentrates on getting her completely dry, ignoring the urge to look, as the other man dresses down to nothing. Castiel, in the time they had known each other, had never exhibited modesty, but under the circumstances he was going to let it slide.
When they find their way to the library, they notice Kevin sitting at one of the tables, looking through the contents of the bag the woman had been carrying with her. He had pulled out a book and a small leather pouch, about the size of a fist, that he still hadn't opened. His eyes intensely scanning the pages as he turns them.
"Find anything that makes this whole mess make sense?" Dean asks as he sits down across from him, handing the girl to Castiel when he sits down next to him, back in business mode.
Kevin was looking more confused than enlightened, raising his head to respond to the eldest hunter's question.
"I skimmed through her diary, it kind of reminds me of the one you have, but I can't make sense of it" Dean just throws him a scowl, not in the least content with Kevin's unsatisfying answer.
"It's in a different language, one I don't know, yet, but the drawings in here suggest it's some kind of guide to creatures and plant life" Kevin throws up his hands in defense. "But I think we should hear what Sam has to say, it might get me some clues on what books to look for, if I'm going to translate this."
Wanting to get as much intel as possible before the little girl wakes up again, Dean gestures for Castiel to stay put then he and Kevin make their way to the infirmary, quickly grabbing the leather pouch on his way out of the chair.
Sam seems to have finished just before they came in, because he is covering the dead body with a sheet.
"What did you find?" the day was starting to take its toll on the seasoned hunter, the tragedy of the events in the evening were hitting him harder than any other case they had worked on in the past. He glanced at the clock on the wall, and regretting it instantly when the clock reads 5.47 am.
"Well, after I got her clothes off, I found she had burn marks all over her body and the wound on her shoulder was probably inflicted by a blade with the width of a medieval sword. The wound goes all the way through so I wouldn't be surprised if it really was an actual one that did this."
"Well, the kid seems traumatized, Cass says she started screaming when he tried to put her down, so she no doubt witnessed what happened to mommy dearest" he informs, rubbing his neck and looks up at the ceiling. He is getting the feeling they won't find any answers tonight. A sword? They didn't come across that often. His arms drop to his side and he jaws, surrendering to the wariness of his body. He blinks a couple of times before Sam continues with his findings.
"The blood though, is not human, not completely anyways" he says and hands Dean a q tip with blood on it. The elder hunter holds the stick, not seeing it. "turn it in the light." He does, as instructed and is seems like it has a pearlescent hue. He looks up, eyes wide.
"A Zanna? This mother of that small child is a Zanna?" his voice does little to hide his surprise.
"I don't think so, if I remember correctly, their blood had glitter in it" he takes the q tip from his stunned brother's hands and turns to walk over to the science station they had set up at the back of the room where one of the beds once stood. "I put some of her blood in the centrifuge, but the composition of it is nothing like any of the critters we have cataloged over the last six months."
"Let me look" Kevin says and walks over to look at the screen in front of Sam. Dean follows him but stands back a bit, he knows his expertise doesn't cover this kind of bloodwork.
"It's not human alright" the teenager states after straightening and crossing his arm in front. "If I'm reading this right, half of it is, but the other half is not like anything on the periodic table."
"I'm afraid we are going to need some help with this if we want to get any answers" Sam says, sitting back in the chair and pursing his lips.
"Hold on, we still have this." Dean walks back to the door where he absentmindedly had placed the leather pouch on his way in, on a table. He pulled the string that was keeping it closed and brushed the cloth out on the table, contents now visible.
"Hey, look at this" he says and picks up a hex bag, showing it to the guys. Along with the hex bag the pouch contained a crystal on a string and a necklace with a long metal pendant, about the thickness of chopstick but only a third of its length.
"You think she was cursed?" Sam asks joining his brother at the table. Dean opens the hex bag and looks inside. The contents do not remind him of a curse.
"I don't think so" he holds out his hand. "since when are flower petals and stones any good?" he asked picking up the items one by one. Only the black lock of hair inside, is no surprise. They were not getting any closer on who this woman was, what she was or even why she had been looking for the men of letters.
After ten minutes of brainstorming, they decided it was time for a break, and Sam and Kevin went to bed. Dean walks back to the library to inform the former angel of the news but stops dead in his tracks at the sight that meets him when he reaches the stairs.
Castiel has not moved from his spot and has actually fallen asleep, one hand resting on the back of the child. That's not what made him freeze. The towel-wrapped girl that was sleeping in his arms, had changed color. Her skin is now sort of a greyish lavender color, and her ears look slightly pointed.
A rush of feelings run through his body and he can't decide if this is a harmless new discovery or a dangerous situation. When the former angel starts snoring, he is snapped out of it, and slowly makes his way over. No need to panic. Silently he pulls out a silver coin from his pant pocket, and as gently as possible he touches her arm with it. She stirs but doesn't wake up. Okay, so probably friendly still. That was a relief.
He finds a blanket and puts it over them both, before taking a seat in his own chair, deciding to keep watch, just in case.
He doesn't remember falling asleep, but he must have, because he wakes up a couple hours later to an empty chair in front of him and giggling sounds from the kitchen down the hall. He jumps out of the chair and hurriedly makes his way towards the sounds, hoping that Castiel has simply started breakfast and is not being tortured by the mysterious child.
He is glad he is right. The giggling is not from pleasure at torturing Castiel, but because the forementioned ex-angel is flipping pancakes in the air. She is sitting on the counter in front of the stoves, clapping her hands, appearing like a human girl once again. Her skin is pale and Castiel has put her in one of his t-shirts, the length working as a dress for the girl. Curiously, he approaches the duo.
"Hey, Cass, could I talk to you for a second?" he tries not to sound alarming.
Castiel has over the last year learned most of the nuances in his former ward's voice and is not fooled. "What is wrong, Dean?" he turns around to hand the girl a plate with pancakes cut into tiny pieces and a fork. She happily munches on the food, oblivious to everything else.
"Did you notice anything weird about the girl when you woke up?" he asks, keeping an eye on her while Castiel tilts his head like he usually does when he is confused.
"Like what?"
Dean is considering if maybe he had been imagining things last night, it had been a long day, not longer than many others, but emotionally it had been draining.
"I'm not sure" he says at first, but then he knows he can trust Castiel with this knowledge and he won't freak out like Sam or Kevin might feel the urge to.
"But… when I came back to the library it kinda looked like she turned into an alien or something."
The former angel ponders the implications of the words that have just come out of the older hunter's mouth for a bit. If he had had his grace, he would have been able to sense what kind of creature she was, believing that Dean had indeed seen a change in their apparently new bunker mate, but as that wasn't the case, he considers who they can call upon to get answers.
He is pondering for so long that Dean waves his hands in front of his face. "Hello, earth to Cass."
Castiel shakes his thoughts away and looks the hunter in the eyes.
"Maybe Crowley will be able to provide us with some information?" he questions and elicits a groan from Dean. The last thing Dean wants is to talk to Crowley.
In the end, when Kevin and Sam woke up and Dean brought them up to speed, they decided to hold off on calling their pocket demon, and find a genealogist first, pretend it's a murder investigation and that they need help identifying a blood sample. While it happened very rarely that Kevin was wrong, he insisted that he could be, when it came to this. Now they were stuck with one dilemma. What were they going to do with the girl in the meantime?
Yay! another one down. Hope you liked it! Getting started on the next chapter asap, let me know what you think so far!
Laters!