A Trickster's Daughter

by roseofmyheart

Gabriel was screwed. Royally. He thought staying in a female vessel would be fun. No harm, no foul right? I mean, what's the worse that could happen? He shouldn't have tempted fate because he knows next to nothing when comes to raising a nephilim. Fledgling? Sure, done it before. Human? Eh -hand waver- Father/daughterOC, maybe OC/Cas, slow start Cover:potatoes books life (wattpad)

52. Chapter 52-My Stalker Angel

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Mid-April-ish 2009, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States

It was a warm spring day, the was air damp with the recent rainfall and the dirt was water soaked as it squished beneath Maya's sneakers as she scavenged through the scrap yard. She'd gotten a bit stronger over the last couple weeks. Perhaps not to what she once was, but she was getting close.

Probably wouldn't have had that chance if her Dad went against what she wanted and healed her on the sly when she was napping.

Maya frowned as she eyed the seemingly chaotically stacked vehicles around her as she looked for the Dodge Charger circa 1980's with the part Bobby needed. She released a heavy sigh when she thought about her Dad. She was still angry at the incommunicado stunt he pulled on her. Her thoughts revolved endlessly of him leaving her, abandoning her, not being strong enough for him…the broken trust she had in him didn't help either. She was also aware of that odd anger she'd felt before. It felt like a fire on the edge of becoming an all-consuming inferno. Maya worried that if she did, that it might swallow her up and she'd lose herself in it.

But underneath all this anger aimed at him…she still missed him. A part of herself just wanted to let go and lose herself in the comfort of one of his hugs. To ask him for help with this odd terrifying rage that she was experiencing. She craved his comfort…

Maya shook her head angrily at conflicting the feelings she felt. She didn't need him. She survived without him before. She could figure this 'rage thing' out on her own too. She didn't have much luck with Bobby's library, yet. But there had to be something in demi-god lore she could consult.

There was a reason pride was considered a sin. Wounded pride from her Dad healing her behind her back—even if she ended up being relieved and grateful for it—didn't help either.

Maya looked around again. This was the general location of 1980 model cars manufactured by Dodge. So, here's hoping Bobby didn't have a Charger placed slightly outside the area. It'd already take forever and a half if it was where it was supposed to be.

She sighed a little in relief when she quickly spotted an ugly green Charger on top of one of the taller stacks. Stuck in her thoughts Maya didn't think to take stock of the surrounding ground beneath said stack. If she did, she'd see quite a bit of pointy scrap metal. Not all that dangerous to walk around carefully, especially since the part she was after was quite small and something she could get out of the console. So, no worries of struggling to carrying an overly large part down the stack.

Damn collectors wanting original parts for everything, including the stereo/radio.

Maya looked at the stack of cars, her head tilted to look for the best route up. She started climbing the slick and damp metal. Wedging hands and feet into whatever crevice she could get a hold of. Some of which had water pooling in it. She'd wipe her hand on the work overalls she wore, then pushed and pulled herself up to the next spot she could reach.

She reached the Charger and saw the fully intact and raised window that she hadn't seen from the ground. With a frustrated frown she decided not to chance trying to find a foothold and open the door.

Unknown to Maya an invisible and silent winged guard watched her curiously.

The unseen sandy-blonde head with red and white striped hat tilted and frowned as the human voice inside his head hummed worriedly.

'What is wrong Alfie?' Samandriel mentally asked at his vessel's concern and worry.

'You don't see it? One slip and she's dead!' Alfie exclaimed as he avidly watched Maya's every move through their shared eyes. 'You gotta be ready in case she slips. If she falls, she's getting scrap metal through the chest!'

Samandriel watched as Maya looked down and carefully started to reach for a foothold. 'She has done this plenty of times before, Alfie. What makes this time different?' he asked his vessel.

'Um, other than the fact that she didn't clear the scrap first? Or that she's climbing slippery and wet metal?' Alfie sarcastically criticized.

Samandriel was silent as he thought over his orders, but Alfie was having none of it.

'Damn it, Samandriel! You said you were an angel! Why would you even think of standing by while someone falls to their death?!' Alfie scolded loudly, then yelled when they saw Maya lose her footing and her foot slipped a little, but not too much. 'Samandriel! She's just as human as I am! You've seen her soul!' She adjusted and tried to get a better foothold.

Samandriel hesitated. He couldn't disobey Heaven. He was ordered to observe and keep her from Hell's demons…by any means necessary. Even destroying her…but that didn't sit well in his grace either.

Maya gingerly placed a foot, but not good enough. Just as she put weight on it her sneaker slipped. She tried to keep a hold on the metal frame of the car in front of her for the second time, but her hands were wet, the metal was wet, and her fingers could no longer find purchase after the sudden large jerk of her slip.

She barely got out a surprised scream before there was a rush of wind and the sound of feathers. Instead of landing on the squishy ground or with scrap metal stabbing her through the back, Maya found herself held bridal style in a pair of arms a few feet away from the stack of cars.

Heart thudding harshly in her chest and pulse pounding in her ears she turned to look up at the being that held her. A teenager with dirty blonde hair, dark eyes, wearing a red and white striped Weenie Hut ball cap on his head looked back at her.

"Hello. Be not afraid, I am an Angel of the—" Samandriel started but was cut off with Maya screaming out a curse and quickly extracted herself from the stunned angel's grasp.

Dark confused eyes watched as the half-Trickster ran down the isle of stacked cars taking the first opening available to get out of his line of sight and calling out for the human who owned the scrap and auto repair yard, Bobby.

Samandriel frowned as he looked down at his empty arms still held out in front of him before lowering them.

Alfie, having seen the whole thing play out, started snickering with laughter inside their shared cranium.

'Um, Alfie?' Samandriel queried hesitantly and with much confusion. He continued when Alfie—still snickering—gave an inquisitive pulse back to his personal hitchhiker, 'Isn't the correct behavior of someone who was just saved to thank their savior?'

Alfie gave Samandriel a snort, 'Yeah, but I think she has an idea of what angels and Heaven in generally think of her. Thanks for saving her by the way.' Alfie let the angel feel his pleased and grateful feelings, making the young angel tilt his head in acknowledgement as he felt his own feelings of pride trickle in.

Pride quickly faded as he looked around, nervousness taking its place, 'I do worry about my superiors finding out though. I technically disobeyed.' Samandriel had mentally whispered that last word in slowly creeping horror he was raised to have in correlation to it.

'Do they have a reason to think you would disobey?' Alfie asked with a mentally raised eyebrow. Samandriel immediately denied it, stating he was always prompt and thorough with his assigned duties. Alfie then mentally shrugged, 'Well, there you go. Heaven's own little employee of the month. Unless one of your older sibs come down here, I don't think they're going to find out.' Alfie's mind then asserted an air of forced innocence, the kind that was accompanied with overexaggerated doe eyes and innocent look that only truly spoke of pure mischief, 'Besides, I won't tell 'em if you don't.'

Samandriel felt a small smile curl at the corner of his and Alfie's body, his fondness for the boy growing.

Alfie mentally huffed at the fuzzy emotion coming from the angel and grouched in forced macho-ness, 'Oh, don't start getting all mushy on me now, man.'

Samandriel spread his wings and took up an invisible post inside the auto garage, listening as the half-Trickster breathlessly told Bobby about him. He didn't concentrate as the old Hunter explained that her Trickster father had revealed Samandriel's presence when he visited last.

Or how he was tasked by Heaven to keep an eye on her to keep her out of Lilith's hands.

She did not take it well.

Samandriel was also busy thinking over a word Alfie had said to him.

Bobby asked why the angel saved Maya in the first place. Cue sheepish explanation and Bobby yelling at her for being an idjit.

Samandriel mentally poked Alfie—like the teen had done to him many a time before—to get his attention, 'What did you mean about me going 'mushy'? I am a wavelength of celestial intent and can't turn to mush. Not to mention your body, our shared vessel, is not about to—'

Alfie cut him off with an exasperated mental groan, 'Again, man? Look, normally I don't mind explaining some human stuff to you but couldn't you, like, ask someone else every once in a while?' Alfie's mind quieted as his presence receded with a slight air of annoyance.

Samandriel contemplated over his vessel's words. Perhaps he did ask Alfie too many questions about human things, but he wanted to learn!

Maybe after the half-Trickster calmed, she would be amenable to answering the questions he had since he saved her life?

---

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Maya

Maya glared angrily at the radio she was carefully extracting from the dashboard of the ugly green Charger. Bobby had practically torn her a new one for being so careless. Maya's glare turned into a pout as she pulled the radio free and grabbed her wire cutters from her work overalls.

It wasn't her fault she had other things on her mind!

Pulling the wires taught, she cut them at a good length and freed the radio. Maya then carefully shimmied out of the Charger and climbed down the ladder to the soft scrap-free ground below. Her prize clutched in her hand.

When her feet touched the muddy ground there was the oh-so-sadly-familiar sound of rustling wings behind her. Everything in her body tensed as her heart rate picked up speed. Gold eyes darted to the sides to find the moved pieces of scrap had cornered her in.

"Excuse me," said the young male voice behind her. Maya stiffly turned around to face the angel in the red and white striped Wiener Hut uniform. "My name is Samandriel and I'm an Angel of the Lord."

"Good…for you," Maya said through tight thinned lips, her voice stressed from fear at being cornered by the Heavenly (literally, not metaphorically) being. The sarcasm barely bleeding through.

Samandriel gave her a pleasant enough smile—not seeming to pick up on her sarcastic comment—but it did not ease her tension at his presence, "Thank you. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me?"

"I-I don't know. Wha-what do you wanna ask?" Maya asked cautiously, having no clue what this angel could possibly want from her. She was off the front lines of the impending Apocalypse. It's not like she knew anything new that's going on with the seals, or Lilith for that matter.

"What does it mean when someone tells someone else not to start getting 'mushy' on them?" Samandriel asked with complete seriousness. Maya stared at his face and couldn't see an ounce of condescension or anything that would tell her if the feather duster was lying to her.

So, Maya blinked. Then blinked again. Blinked once more for good measure, before rearing her head back a little in shock.

"Um…what?" she asked in a slightly confused daze. Did this angel seriously just ask her to…? "I mean…yeah, no, what?"

Samandriel frowned at Maya's confusion, "Did I not word the question properly? Is that where your confusion is coming from?"

"Uuuuuuuuuh," Maya said dumbly before shaking her head. "No, no. The question's fine. It's just…" she trailed off as she tried to find the words. She knew what was throwing her off, but she wasn't sure if the feathery asshole would take it as an insult or not.

Samandriel then tilted his head to the side with small, puzzled pout and blindsided Maya with an image of a confused puppy.

Pushing the adorable mental image aside she decided to chance it, "It's more like I never expected an Angel of the Lord to ask me a question…like that one."

"Really?" Samandriel didn't stop his confused frowning puppy look.

Maya tried to keep a hold of her sense, the one that told her to be scared of angels, to be uber wary right now…but Samandriel was currently making it really really hard to do that.

"I thought my Brothers and Sisters would take the opportunity to ask humans questions when the opportunity presented itself, especially under the guise of another human," Samandriel pondered aloud.

"Eh," Maya shrugged unintelligibly. Maya also kept the snarky comments that wanted to come out at his little pondering statement at bay, despite the inquisitive puppy vibe the angel was giving off that made her want to drop her guard.

Puppy-ness aside, it probably wouldn't end well for her if she insulted him with something along the lines of 'feathery-dicks-with-holier-than-thou-superiority-complexes' and 'I-doubt-your-siblings-would-stoop-so-low-as-to-ask-a-lowly-human-such-frivolous-questions'.

The silence stretched between them.

Maya shifted on her feet uneasily, eyes still darting around for a way to escape.

Her shifting prompted Samandriel to speak, "Would you be amenable to answering my questions?"

"Uuummmm…okay?" Maya said unsurely. Maybe if she played along, the puppy-feather-duster will get bored and leave?

Samandriel then gave her a beaming and excited smile that blindsided the half-Trickster at its brilliance and most importantly, genuine emotional sincerity.

Of all the angels she's encountered that had their memories (ie, 2), Maya had never seen one express themselves so openly or unreservedly. She berated herself when she could practically feel her guard lowering.

"Okay, okay, so turning mushy?" Maya sighed, getting an enthusiastic nod and intense stare from Samandriel as he eagerly awaited her answer. "Right, am I to assume…" Maya explained to the best of her ability and answered any other questions the angel had before he bid her farewell and disappeared with a sound of rustling feathers.

Maya released a slow breath of relief and startled at Bobby's voice suddenly appearing with an ever eloquent and profound, "What the hell?"

Maya looked over to see Bobby about 20ft away from her with a shotgun in his hands looking as confused as she felt. To which Maya with equal intensity said, "Right?!"

Neither of them dwelled too much on the odd occurrence that had just transpired and decided to table it for later. Last thing they wanted to deal with were angels and their…Heavenly weirdness.

---

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Couple of days later…

"…alright, easy now. Slow 'er down and shift the gear—that's it!" Bobby instructed from the passenger seat of his beat-up pick-up truck to Maya who was tense behind the wheel of the bulky vehicle. "Now get yer right signal on…good. Keep checkin' yer mirrors for assholes and unwary pedestrians," he leaned his head out the window to make doubly sure no one was crossing the parking lot they were about to turn into.

He skillfully ignored the quietly and strained chuckle, "Pedestrians: 50 points."

"Yer good to go, My, now just turn 'er gently and give 'er enough gas to keep movin'—WHOA!" Bobby yelped a little when she pressed a little too much on the gas. "Easy, easy…" Bobby said in a calm manner, making sure to keep his own panic in check. If the teeth clenching grin of terror and/or panic on her face was anything to go by, his own panicking wouldn't help.

Bobby carefully instructed Maya as they slowly cruised the parking lot—he was pretty sure she was giving herself whiplash with all the head turning she was doing looking for pedestrians—then asked if she felt confident enough to try a pull-in front park.

Maya took a deep calming breath and nodded, a glint of determination in her eyes.

"Alright, but there ain't no shame in not bein' ready yet," Bobby told her as he began giving her instructions of how to maneuver the bulky vehicle into a parking spot. As Maya put on the signal and began her slow turn into the spot another truck zoomed in and took it, forcing her to slam on the brake to prevent an accident.

There were literally 10 other empty parking spots, half of which were a lot closer to the store than the one she was trying to pull into.

Maya was breathing hard at the close call and shaking a little…along with whatever confidence she had gained on the drive into town.

Bobby was pissed-off. He clambered out of the truck yelling, "What the hell did ya think ya were doin', ya idjit?! Ya could've caused a god damned accident!" He stormed over to the driver's side of the offending truck, that was too spotless to have been used for any useful work these kinds of vehicles were built for.

'Probably overcompensating fer somethin',' Bobby thought grimly. Then he saw who the driver was. Bobby's fury deepened if his intensifying scowl was any indicator.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the old drunkard and his little drifter…friend," said an older Drake, arms crossed unimpressed across his chest. "Your eyesight must be going if you're letting that train wreck behind the wheel. Though I doubt she'd make that beat up piece of shit any worse, but miracles do happen."

It'd been a couple years since either Maya or Bobby ran into the little entitled shithead.

"Just teachin' her proper drivin'. Somethin' ya obviously lack," Bobby growled back with irritation, hearing his truck door open and close. Maya walked around the front of the truck to stand beside Bobby glaring at the asshole.

"How's the shoulder?" Maya quipped with a smirk, cutting off what Drake was about to say.

Drake glowered dangerously in her direction and uncrossed his arms, fists clenching.

Bobby stuck an arm out in front of Maya to nudge her behind him while he took a step closer to the brute. He didn't see Maya shoot him the disapproving frown his way, but he felt it hit the side of his face. The Hunter didn't really care if she disapproved or not. They only recently started practicing her fighting skills and testing her limits.

Now was not the time for field testing them…even against a clumsy and unaware asshole. No matter how satisfying it would be to see if she could flip him on his back, again.

Bobby and Drake sized each other up. What would've been one of the most one-sided fights Sioux Falls would ever see was stopped before it began when a voice cut through the testosterone filled fog, "EXCUSE ME!"

Bobby and Drake tensed and looked over to see the one and only Sheriff Jody Mills walking over towards them in the parking lot, not looking all that impressed with them. They turned to glare at each other one more time before relaxing and taking a step back from each other.

The woman had black hair in a bob-cut with fair skin and dark coloured eyes, decked out in her sheriffs' uniform and plastered on her best customer service smile, "What seems to be the problem, boys?" She looked between the older teen boy and Bobby Singer, but didn't wait for an answer, "'Cause it looks—to me—that you two were about to duke it out in the parking lot."

"Mr. Singer's just mad I took his parking spot before…Maya could inch her way in like an old grandma—" Drake started only to have Maya cut him off.

"Well, sorry for still learning how to drive and not wanting to cause any damage or an accident!" Maya moved around Bobby to get up into Drake's face. "Unlike you who whips around the parking lot like a maniac and—"

Drake looked contritely over at Jody, "I swear Sheriff I have no clue what this drifter—"

"Oh-ho-ho! Drifter?! Do you honestly still think that's an insult? I have seen more of this country than you'll ever see! Mr—"

"Alright! Alright! Enough!" Jody stepped between the two and Bobby took that moment to pull Maya back, giving her a stern look. She just rolled her eyes at him. Making Bobby roll his eyes skywards like he was asking the Lord to give him strength.

Teenagers!

"Okay," Jody announced looking between the two older teens. She then looked between Bobby's truck and Drake's, "I don't see any damage, so I don't see a need to report an accident. So, there's that." Jody then turned to Drake after a quick turn of the head around the parking lot, "So, Mr. Matthews, want to tell me why this particular parking spot's so special?"

Drake blinked dumbly at her. Maya sucked her lips in to keep the chortle from escaping.

"I mean, parking lots pretty empty, Mr. Matthews. What compelled you drive recklessly while another car was turning in to take this particular spot, hmm?" Jody then waved a hand behind her, "Especially when there's at least two other better spots closer to the entrance?"

Drake sputtered as Jody turned her dark eyes onto Maya.

Maya's glee at Drake's predicament disappeared when Jody raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you up and about again, Miss Godson, but I feel I must ask, can I see your learner's permit?" Jody asked with a knowing glint in her eyes. "Matthews, I'd just get going before you say anything else," Jody said without even looking at Drake, before turning hard eyes back onto him when he didn't immediately respond or got going.

Drake shut his mouth and swallowed whatever derogatory comment he'd been about to spew. He wisely—for once in his life—beat a hasty escape at Sheriff Mills' dismissal.

"Right," Jody clicked her tongue then looked back at Maya who was giving her her best smile. "Learner's permit?"

Bobby had gone to the truck and pulled out a sheet of paper and catching Maya's eye. Mischief glinted in her honeyed eyes.

Maya concentrated on what a driver's permit looked like and the changes in certain details and felt the familiar Trickster magic swell inside her and travel to her fingertips. She snapped her fingers and pointed at Bobby, "Bobby's got it."

Jody narrowed her eyes at Maya, recognizing the look of mischief that crossed her eyes then squinted at Bobby as she was handed the paper. She looked at the piece of paper and everything seemed in order except one little detail.

It was a printout for someone who had just passed their drivers road test. She was looking for the one that said she passed her written test, i.e., a learner's permit.

"Wow, Maya, you managed to pass your road test while still learning how to drive?" Sheriff Mills watched with exasperation as she could practically see Bobby and Maya start to come up with a way to talk themselves out of their predicament. "Look, I'll look over it this one time, okay? So, don't try bullshitting me Singer, Godson," she gave the two-pointed looks that said she knew they were con artists of varying degrees. Jody then handed the paper over to a grinning Maya who didn't look even close to repentant over trying to get one over on the law, Bobby not much better. He just looked gruff and slightly annoyed at having to probably go through proper channels now.

Jody rolled her eyes at the two and walked away yelling, "Just write the damn test!" She was technically off duty and picking up groceries on her way home. Didn't mean she had to tell any of the local yahoos that.

Bobby and Maya shared a moment of silence as they watched the all too tolerant Sheriff mosey along on her way.

"…I must—"

"No," Bobby grumped as he went to the driver's seat of the truck. Maya followed towards the passenger's seat.

"But—!" Maya started to protest with a pout.

"No," he said pointedly as he drove the truck to one of the more desirable parking spots. "That woman tolerates us so much it ain't even funny."

Maya gave Bobby a knowing look, "You mean you. I have an impeccable record with her. How long has she been arresting you for?"

To be fair though on Sheriff Mills, Jody could just tell by looking at Maya that she was a headache waiting to happen. She was waiting for the day she struck…at least in a way she could conclusively say it was her. There were a couple of incidences with that Drake kid and some highly public pranks she was positive had to have been the Godson/ 'Bobby Singer's' Girl's doing. Jody just couldn't figure out how.

Bobby snorted as he pulled in and put the truck into park before turning it off and pocketing the keys. He grunted changing the topic, "C'mon, we still got shit to get." Maya huffed, a smirk on her lips, knowing exactly what he was doing but let it go for now.

Maya daydreamed the day she pranked Sheriff Mills. She was positive the woman would make a good friendly adversary. Jody Mills was not fooled by her smile or easy-going attitude. Maya wanted to see how long it would take the good sheriff to demand her to stop without any evidence pointing to Maya's involvement but just knowing it was the half-Trickster.

Nothing 'just desserts' related, no. Maya's long known that she was a good sheriff, overly fair with a good sense of humor and of strong moral fiber.

Maya and her Dad loved those kind of authority figures…didn't mean they'd follow or obey them themselves. But on principle when it came to local scumbags and dicks that needed some judicial justice along with their own brand of justice.

She released a sad sigh at the thought of her Dad and then felt the teak of her anger mix in. Maya was still both pissed at him and missed him something terrible. And also, possibly regretting not just falling into his arms for an overdue hug instead of letting her anger get the better of her.

Just a grab bag of mixed emotions rolling around inside of her.

Maya pushed the shopping cart through the grocery store absentmindedly, leaning on it heavily while she perused the isles.

There was the sudden sound of rustling feathers and a young curious voice, "What is a 'learner's permit' and why would you need it to drive that dilapidated transport vehicle?"

Samandriel had appeared right in front of the shopping cart, causing Maya to yelp loudly in surprise and tried to swerve the cart around him on instinct. She missed him and went right into a canned food pyramid an employee had just been about to put the last can on top of.

Cans of 'something-or-whatever' cascaded down in a hypnotizing and somewhat satisfying display. They clanged and crashed and rolled every which way. A lot fell into Maya's cart filling it over halfway.

The disgruntled employee glared at Maya and Maya in turn glared at Samandriel with a curse on her lips. Bobby hearing the commotion walked over, saw the mess; Maya, the angel, and also cursed.

Alfie having been awake in the back of Samandriel's mind, was rolling on the mental floor laughing his ass off.

Samandriel just tilted his head and looked around himself in confusion at the chaos.

What?

---

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Next day…

Maya rubbed her face tiredly as she read through another old text, her brain taking a moment to translate before moving on to the next bit. Thankfully she didn't have to do multiple translations just to get something she could work with. She turned a wary eye to an even older tome in the 'next' pile beside her that Bobby had added for her.

Bobby was good at translations, but—sadly for Maya—she was better. She doesn't lose the context which could affect the meaning of some words, sentences, or entire passages.

In cases like this having a brain/knack for languages was more of a burden than a blessing.

With a sigh she trudged on with the endless researching for a way to prevent the Apocalypse. A kitchen timer went off and Maya quickly fled the desk she had taken over in the study while Bobby worked on some repairs for a client…after doing some research for a Hunter that called in that morning.

Maya had offered to do that research instead for something different to look at, but, again, knack for languages made her invaluable when it came to the old and ancient languages some of the books were written in.

Maya stretched her limbs as she walked into the kitchen craving a hot chocolate, a slight headache started to form. Yep, definitely time for a hot and chocolatey sugar fix.

She flipped the switch on the electric kettle when her eyes landed on the day's paper on the counter. While the water boiled, she immediately turned to the comics section. After snorting a laugh at Marmaduke and the other funnies, she flipped the page and saw the puzzles. She answered some of the crossword, but then narrowed her eyes on the Sudoku.

Maya enjoyed the logic number puzzle, better than that bastardized offshoot of Sudoku puzzle that included math, also known as Kudoku. She grabbed a pencil and started working through the Sudoku puzzle.

She was so wrapped up in concentrating on the slightly harder than normal puzzle and slowly increasing headache that she didn't hear the telltale arrival of a certain angelic pain in the ass.

Samandriel tilted his head at the half-Trickster who had practically sprawled her upper body over the counter. He frowned and moved to one side to see what she was so concentrated on, forgetting his previous inquiry.

It was a testament to Maya's mind and its ability to exclude her surroundings when fully engrossed that she didn't even feel the angel's presence beside her as he looked over her shoulder at the puzzle and read the instructions beside it.

Then he opened his mouth, "I don't think that 7 goes there."

The sudden voice was enough to startle Maya into bolting straight up and whacking the back of her head on the overhanging cupboards above her, "OW!" Pain blossomed from the back of her head. She gently prodded the now tender spot and sent the angel beside her the stink eye, "WHY?!"

"…you said you were amenable to answering my questions?" Samandriel replied after a slight pause, his voice tilting upwards at the end to form the posed question instead of a statement…and with a slight pout.

Samandriel was pouting at her. The freaking Angel of the Lord, Samandriel, was pouting at her.

And he looked like a kicked puppy! Again!

Maya didn't think God—capital G—cared about some half-Tricksterling, but being saddled with this puppy angel…He must have had a hand in it.

In an unkempt house Chuck bites His lip to keep from smiling. He didn't have a hand in it. It was just a curious…change in the story. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing yet, but it was interesting.

Maya took a couple of steps away from Samandriel, eyeing him as she went to the bubbling electric kettle and pulled down a mug. She tried to ignore the guilty feeling clawing at her heart and instead focus on the pounding and cautioning fear inside it instead.

She peaked at him again…he looked even more like a kicked puppy…a kicked puppy that had very droopy and sad wings. Not that she could see the wings. The last time she saw an angel's wings her eyes started hurting and bleeding.

Fun times.

But it's just not fair. No angel should look like this…it was ruining the general really powerful and holier-than-thou-and-will-smite-anything-they-find-remotely-distateful image Maya had in her head when concerning angels.

It was a good image to have. Kept her alert when the flying dicks popped in which kept her alive.

But then you get angels like Samandriel and Anna…and Castiel on some weird vague level since he apparently saved her life of his own volition. The most recent time, not when Dean bargained with him for it.

With a beleaguered sigh Maya faced Samandriel as she pulled out the tin of hot chocolate powder and put it on the counter. "Alright, what do you want to know, now?"

Samandriel gave her a bright smile that was both sweet, genuine, and unnerving. Again, ruining the monster-under-the-bed-and-in-the-closet image she'd grown up with. The pounding in her heart unintentionally calming ever so slightly in the presence of the angel a few feet away from her.

Dammit, maybe he really was like Anna?

Maya was still uncomfortable with him being so close though…

"What is April Fool's? And what does this woman have to do with pranks being made in her name? Is she some kind of new pagan deity?"

"It's not a woman and not a pagan god. It's a holiday. No god involved," Maya answered in a slightly shocked daze. She blinked owlishly and then asked, "Where did you hear about it?"

"I overheard one of Mr. Singer's patrons complaining about something that happened that involved it earlier this month and his offspring."

Maya tried to keep her smile from forming as she asked, "Mr. Robinson?" Samandriel nodded curiously. "Bucket with paint and glitter over a slightly open door?" Again, another nod.

"Heh," she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips as she remembered said man's young sons pouting out by the workshop while they waited for him and…suggesting a prank for them to do to get back at him for something or other.

Despite herself, Maya found herself relaxing as she explained one of the most favorite of human holidays to Tricksters everywhere to Samandriel as she made her hot chocolate. She didn't know how the holiday came about, but now it was a recognized and verily celebrated holiday by every Trickster, prankster, and mischievous soul out there. Supernatural and human alike.

Maya took a moment to blow on her hot chocolate before tentatively taking a sip, slurping at the still too hot sugary chocolatey goodness.

Samandriel watched her and tilted his head with another curious frown. Maya was beginning to associate the look with a pending question forming in the angel's mind.

"What is that?"

"Hot chocolate," Maya answered, holding the handle of the mug. The ceramic or porcelain or whatever material cheap mugs were made of was still too hot to comfortably hold directly.

"…doesn't chocolate come in those colorfully wrapped bars?" Samandriel asked confused. "You put powder in your lidless tankard," he pointed out.

Maya snorted at Samandriel's word use, "Lidless tankard? Ain't no ale or beer in this. This was made from hot chocolate powder, made of cocoa powder and refined sugary goodness, and water hot enough to burn your soul."

Samandriel's head reared back a little at her little offhand exaggeration as he tried to puzzle out her meaning. "As you're still alive, the water is in no way burning your soul," Samandriel pointed out.

"Holy water burns demons and they're just twisted human souls," Maya pointed out as she took another sip. She could feel her blood sugar rising and her headache abating. She then realized that Samandriel said she had a soul. No disgusted adjective beforehand to tell her how disgusted he was by her mere presence.

"…they're demons," he told her like it explained everything. Which—to be honest—pretty much did in Maya's opinion.

Demons sucked.

They stared at each other. The thundering in Maya's chest having ebbed as she sipped her hot cocoa and Samandriel looked like he had more questions.

He opened his mouth, then closed it with a thoughtful and uncertain frown. Samandriel's eyes flickered between Maya and the mug of hot chocolate.

Cue another head tilt.

Maya raised an eyebrow and asked to ease her own growing curiosity of what could be on the angel's mind since he hadn't flown off yet, "Do you want to try some?"

"Angels do not need to eat or drink," Samandriel answered automatically, his voice reminiscent of a broken record, like it was drilled into his head all his life.

"Well, you may not need to, but do you want to?" she offered again, her curious gold eyes watching as some internal debate raged inside the seemingly young angel.

Maya wasn't far off.

Samandriel was told all his life that angels didn't need to eat or drink like humans as they didn't truly possess their own physical bodies to maintain and their grace preserved their vessels. So, there was no point…but it didn't stop him from being curious.

Curiosity was not an emotion that was encouraged in Heaven and Samandriel struggled with maintaining Heaven's standards and internally battling against the emotion. The young angel was already pushing it with asking the half-Trickster questions.

Alfie helped…as in he encouraged Samandriel to be curious. After all, Heaven hadn't reprimanded him yet about asking Maya questions, so what's trying this human thing? They didn't seem to be watching, or at the very least didn't care.

Samandriel turned doe eyes and looked into Maya's golden irises, "Can I?"

Maya looked a little surprised with a slightly raised eyebrow, but nodded and made the angel his own mug, the spoon clinking as she stirred. Despite the too quickly growing comfortableness around the angel, Maya still wasn't keen on being too close to him, so she placed the mug on the counter and backed a few steps away.

Better than her first reaction of tearing out of the room or at the very least be on the other side of the room.

Samandriel looked between the mug and her, his eyes asking permission. Maya inclined her head positively.

Maya watched attentively as Samandriel picked up the mug and seemed to examine the warm light brown liquid curiously. He brought the mug to his lips, blowing on it like he had observed Maya doing—albeit a bit too forcefully—and took a sip.

Samandriel frowned and pouted, "It tastes like molecules."

Maya's mouth dropped in surprise, "It tastes like what?"

Samandriel unintentionally stuck out his bottom lip and seemed to pout deeper, "My grace seems to analyze every molecule that touches my tongue. It is very unpleasant."

A timer interrupted the pregnant pause that was forming but was quickly turned off by Maya who then continued to gawk at the angel. She was having a hard time not pitying a being who couldn't taste.

Some of the best things in life come from being able to taste something, like cake and-and-and-chocolate!

"Molecules?" Maya questioned with persistent disbelief.

"Yes."

"Molecules?" she repeated with a little more emphasis.

"Yes," Samandriel's voice was starting to lilt to the side with uncertainty as he wondered if there was something wrong with Maya's hearing.

"Molecules?!" now there was definite horror in her voice. The idea was hard to fathom in her mind and evoked all kinds of pity and horror.

"…has your hearing become impaired?" Samandriel asked with genuine concern and—oh there it was again—a curious head tilt.

"…you poor feathery bastard," Maya commiserated with big sad honey eyes.

Samandriel jerked his head back with an affronted frown, "Excuse—"

"Right, we're going to fix this," Maya interrupted before Samandriel could try to get into an argument over the offhand insult. The little puppy-ness that was Samandriel, Angel of the Lord, had finally overtaken Maya's fear towards him being an angel. She was pretty sure he was more like an Anna than say a Castiel. Definitely leagues away from being a Uriel.

"I—what?" Samandriel stammered a little bit, not sure how to take her declaration. "I don't think that is necessar—"

"'Course it is!" Maya waved his concerns off as she started thinking of what to do. "You can't come down here without at least experiencing one basic aspect of human life in its entirety. Or at least a small…taste of it," she smiled a goofy grin.

Alfie groaned inside Samandriel's head and asked the angel to tell the half-Trickster that that wasn't remotely funny.

Samandriel did not and instead stated, "I do not see the benefit of such an experience. As an angel, I am technically just a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent. I have no need for a sense of taste."

Pause.

"You are riding around in some teenage meat suit, aren't you?" Maya pointed out.

Samandriel frowned at her terminology for his vessel, feeling offended on Alfie's behalf. He wasn't just a vessel or a meat suit to Samandriel. The angel considered the teen a friend.

'Love you too, bro,' Alfie's voice echoed in their shared cranium with platonic affection. 'But let the girl teach you how to taste so I don't starve.'

'My grace is fully capable of sustaining your body. There is no need to—' Samandriel mentally started, only for Alfie to now cut him off as well.

'I want to taste the hot chocolate, man,' Alfie whined in that specific tone that only teenagers seemed capable of pulling off. 'Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssseeeeee (…)' Alfie's plea and annoying tone didn't end. Without the limitation of needing to breath in their shared mind space, the teen was fully prepared to out-patience the angel.

Samandriel for the first time in his existence feel the lowest level on the anger scale: annoyance.

"…okay," Samandriel answered out loud, to both Maya and Alfie. He wasn't sure how he felt when they seemed to share the same beaming smile at him. One mentally and the other right in front of him.

---

.

Couple hours later…

Bobby had finished up with his repair job for the afternoon and was walking into his house when he heard two sets of voices instead of only the one if Maya decided to talk to herself to work through a particularly rough translation. He grabbed his shotgun by the front door jam and walked quietly towards the kitchen where the voices were coming from.

One was definitely Maya's excited and expectant voice. The other sounded like another teenager…a boy.

Nuh uh!

That boy better be ready to get a chest full of rock salt—

Bobby paused then opened and checked his shotgun rounds. Yep, rock salt.

He got back to angrily thinking of what he was going to do to the boy for coming into his house and—

Bobby rounded the kitchen corner to see Maya looking down on her angel stalker who sat at the kitchen table with slowly growing eyes filled with wonder and awe.

"Oh, Heavenly Father, this is—I have no words!" the young angel said excitedly as he took another eager sip of something from a mug…like a small kid discovering something that tasted amazing for the first time. Or a baby.

Maya nodded down with a big grin plastered on her face, "And that's just the stuff made from pre-made hot chocolate powder and hot water. Not even the really good—"

The angel turned to Maya and looked up at her with surprised alarm and excitement, "IT GETS BETTER?!" The sandy haired angel gawped between Maya and the mug—Bobby presumed—filled with hot chocolate.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Bobby demanded, gripping the gun tight and not lowering it quite yet. It might only tickle the angel, but it'd hopefully be enough of a distraction to get Maya away from him.

Maya jumped a little at Bobby's sudden voice and whipped her head to look at him in surprise.

There would've been a tense silence if it wasn't for Samandriel slurping his hot chocolate, his eyes darting between the two.

So, the air was tense, yes. Silent? Not so much.

Maya plastered on a happy grin, "I was teaching baby angel how to taste food!"

Bobby blinked in surprise, dropping the barrel of his shotgun, and said with emphatic disbelief, "What?"

Samandriel gulped the liquid in his mouth and frowned (read: pouted) up at Maya, "I am not a fledgling! I am millions of years old!"

"…mmm bébé," Maya said with a French accent and a large teasing grin. Bobby's eyes flickered to the young angel as the boy seemed to puff up indignantly at Maya's assertion, like an offended bird…or the fluffy fledgling of said bird.

"I am not!" Samandriel said offended, feeling overwhelming annoyance rise up and other bitter emotions he didn't realize he had, and the memories attached to them.

"It explains the questions—"

"I am just curious about humanity!" Samandriel spoke up becoming increasingly more tense, but Maya ignored him and continued unaware of his burgeoning inner turmoil.

"—not to mention the genuine emotions you seem to display other than anger, annoyance, superiority—" Maya would've continued if Samandriel hadn't yelled at her, negative emotions overwhelming him.

"I'M BELITTLED ENOUGH BY MY OWN SIBILINGS! I DON'T NEED YOU DOING IT ON MY FIRST MISSION ON EARTH!"

Old pain flashed over Samandriel's face as he roughly placed the mug down on the table and quickly stood up from the chair. The old chair falling over with a loud clatter from the sudden movement.

Maya felt her heart clench, Bobby's did too a smidgen, but he hid it better. Bobby still remembered when Zachariah had ordered the obviously young angel to keep Maya sleeping and had stood poised to smite her should Gabriel not comply with the feathery bastard.

There was a brief awkward pause. Neither angel nor human knowing what to do.

The one in between the two however had an idea.

Maya could see the struggle in his eyes over some internal conflict warring inside him, as well him trying to erect some composed mask like the one Castiel wore. She hesitated a moment, some of the previous wariness of angels coming back.

Maya for the first time—knowingly—placed a hand on an angel's shoulder, "You didn't let me finish." Samandriel looked into her kindly amber eyes, his hands clenching his upper arms as he hugged himself, "You also don't look at me with disgust, or look down on humans as being lesser than you. Neither do you look at them like a curious experiment that you'd dispose of once you grew bored. You genuinely want to understand. You've let me see your wide range of emotions and…"

She paused unsure what else to say, so she decided to finish with, "Samandriel, it's not a bad thing. Being young or being curious."

Then the look of yearning in the young angel's eyes damn near broke Maya's empathetic heart. Bobby also felt a twinge in his chest for the angel at the look Samandriel gave Maya, making him feel a bit for the kid. Still unsure of Samandriel and wondered if it was all an act to play on Maya's loneliness and hurt caused by Dean and her father.

Samandriel clenched his teeth as tears surprisingly escaped his eyes in rivulets. He quietly murmured to her in a quietly defeated tone, "Yes. It is." He brushed her hand from his shoulder.

From one moment to the next, Samandriel was gone in the sound of rustling wings.

It was a stunned and heavy silence that engulfed the kitchen and its remaining occupants.

"Fuck," Maya muttered feeling like shit.

Bobby patted her shoulder sympathetically then moved to go put his gun back. He might be giving Gabriel a call to ask about the angel. Samandriel didn't act like no angel he's ever encountered, granted it was a very small number, but still. Bobby thought Gabriel might give him a better idea of how dangerous this angel might be.

---

.

Samandriel

When Samandriel landed it was not graceful. He misjudged where to put his vessel's legs and soon found himself crumpling to the ground on the edge of the Singer property by the tree line that separated the property from the farm field next door. Emotions rolled tumultuously inside his chest, inside his grace, making it hard to breath…and he was an angel! He didn't need to breath and yet he couldn't suck enough air into his vessel!

Before Bobby showed up, Samandriel had been feeling joy at experiencing something no other angel ever had. It was exciting, exhilarating, and it made him feel unique from his Brothers and Sisters. He could do something they couldn't, or more than likely didn't care to do. It hadn't had mattered to him.

Samandriel also felt like he was getting closer to the half-Trickster…Maya. He'd watched as she pushed aside her fear of him away…or was it letting herself relax? Either way she'd patiently answer his questions…no matter how inopportune his timing was.

Samandriel remembered the increasing intensity of the joy and-and the fun he'd felt the more successful he was with pulling his grace back enough to taste. All these gradients of joyful and curious emotions becoming stronger the more effective he became.

Slowly realizing how much he was using his grace to keep everything bottled deep inside himself. Until he popped the cap open just a smidge.

But then he found himself under both Bobby and Maya's scrutiny, Maya's teasing. Memories of Heaven long ago when he was going through basic training had surfaced as the old emotions he'd pushed down came to the forefront.

'He's just a fledgling, he can't do it.'

'So, infantile.'

'He's one angel, we've got better things to do than try to finish training him up.'

'We've got plenty of soldiers in our garrison. We don't need him.'

'You're being stationed in the Heavenly Archives…For how long? Till we decided otherwise.'

'I heard he was so bad in training that the trainers just shuffled him off to the Archives, so they no longer had to deal with him…'

'At least in the Archives he won't be underfoot.'

'Why did he survive Lucifer's destruction of the last fledgling cohort?'

Shame. Inadequacy. Frustration. Sadness. Loneliness. Hurt.

Samandriel felt them hit his grace with greater intensity than what he remembered before he began using his grace to push them all away. They melded together in a toxic mix inside of him that felt like what he assumed drowning felt like.

'—ANDRIEL! SAMANDRIEL!' Alfie yelled inside their shared mind space, Samandriel finally heard him and turned his attention to the young teen he inhabited. When Alfie felt Samandriel's shaky attention on him he let out a mental sigh of relief and asked in concern, 'Hey, bro, you okay? You've got a lot of feelings going on there.'

"I-I c-can't—! They're—they're too much!" Samandriel cried aloud with a gasp, hugging himself. Completely certain that if he didn't, he'd fall apart. It felt like everything just kept bubbling up more and more, loosening the strenuous hold he had on them.

'I think you might be having a panic attack,' Alfie suggested, feeling a wave of disbelief crash against his consciousness but held firm against the surge. Samandriel needed him to stay calm. 'Take a slow breath in through your nose and slowly out through your mouth—and none of this not needing air crap! Just do it…okay, good,' Alfie praised as Samandriel followed his directions. 'Now, focus on your surroundings. What can you hear? What can you smell? What can you see? Stuff like that, and focus just on that, okay?'

Samandriel did as Alfie suggested and found the tumultuous emotions rolling around inside of him calming. Enough to ask, "Alfie, what happened? I've never experienced emotions so strong before…I shouldn't be feeling them at all! I'm an angel!"

'Get a hold of yourself! You're an Angel of the Lord for Father's sake! Enough of this sniveling!'

Samandriel physically flinched at the voice, the owner long forgotten but not the words.

There was a contemplative pause from the teen as Alfie tried to piece together what happened to his angel buddy. It was difficult since he wasn't privy to Samandriel's knowledge of grace or his memories, but he gave it his best shot.

'Well, wasn't your grace kind of acting like a buffer between your consciousness and, well, my human body?' Alfie queried an idea forming. 'When you pulled your grace back to taste things…maybe you removed that buffer? So, you didn't have your grace compartmentalizing and analyzing and breaking down everything. Heh, welcome to the Human Experience.'

"…in-in a way. It-it feels like I opened something I-I closed off a l-long time ago," Samandriel released a breath after putting into words what he experienced and ignored Alfie's last-minute attempt at levity. "But it doesn't change the fact that I shouldn't be letting myself feel these emotions or-or indulging in my curiosity. Guess my youth will always be—" he abruptly stopped as the memory of Maya's words washed over him again…

'Samandriel, it's not a bad thing. Being young or being curious.'

And the mild soothing of his emotional pain they brought at the acceptance and encouragement in her voice…before Heaven's orders and expectations and his own memories reared its head like a tidal wave, reversing it with the consequences that followed if not adhered to.

'Samandriel, Maya was only teasing you. Trying to be friendly. She stopped the moment she saw how her words affected you and tried to comfort you,' Alfie told the shaky angel calmly. 'She's also right. Nothing wrong with being young and curious and asking questions—'

"Asking questions in Heaven is what gets you taken away…" Samandriel interrupted with a shaky grimace as a couple more memories surfaced. Of silently observing a handful of some of his Brothers and Sisters being apprehended in and outside the Archives…struggling. He remembered offering them help with whatever they were looking for. Sometimes they let him help, they tended to be the ones that were always kind to him. "When you're seen again, you are different. You are what an Angel of the Lord is supposed to be," Samandriel sat up from the ground and pulled his knees to his chest.

Samandriel could feel the trepidation curling in Alfie's soul.

'What…what is an angel supposed to be? Aren't you supposed to be benevolent, compassionate, kind, and merciful?' Alfie asked worriedly. The human wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

"…we're supposed to be warriors. Soldiers. Unyielding, unquestioning, absolute control over our emotions, and above all obedient," the memories of those once kind angels turning cold and hard towards him. Became similar to all the others that looked down their metaphoric celestial noses at him. Samandriel was always too scared to confront them on their sudden change or ask what happened to them after they'd been taken away.

"I-I don't want to be taken away as well…learning to taste, losing control of my emotions…asking questions," Samandriel muttered quietly, his shoulders tensing and arms wrapping more tightly around his legs, turning into a small tense ball. He rested his forehead on his knees. "If Heaven finds out…" the young angel trailed off, a keen escaping his voice as he started to feel overwhelming fear deep in his grace.

Asking questions…looking for answers…that's what had gotten the others carted away.

He'd seen it happen, especially to Castiel a few times more than most. But Castiel always seemed to slowly come back to himself. He was Samandriel's favorite superior. He had some inner mental fortitude and courage that Samandriel admired much more than his military accomplishments.

And here Samandriel sat, pushing (letting?) his grace away (recede?) enough that now he was experiencing fear so overwhelming he felt like he could hardly breathe let alone move. He'd never felt fear this strong before. He definitely felt the lack of inner strength and courage that the other angel possessed.

'That sounds terrifying…and more like a less torture-y-and-hellfire-centric kind of Hell,' Alfie frowned with a mental shrug.

Shock and terror at Alfie's words streaked through Samandriel's grace like a hot iron, forgetting his own worries for a moment, "Alfie!"

'I'm not taking it back! I'm callin' it like I see it, my angel bro,' Alfie stated firmly, feeling anger on his celestial friend's behalf…seeing how the angel was nowhere near feeling it for himself. 'Your Brothers and Sisters are dicks. Treating you like that. Making your home feel less than safe and loving. They're dicks with-with-with wings!'

Samandriel sighed with exasperation, "Alfie, please. Stop." He didn't know he was asking Alfie to keep his opinion of Heaven—Samandriel's 'home'—to himself or to help him stop feeling all these emotions so intensely.

Alfie was about to say something when a voice, a prayer, rang through their shared head.

'Hey, uh, Samandriel, it's Maya. I-I don't know if this would even work with me being well me, but, uh, could you come over here?'

There was silence between angel and vessel. After an encouraging 'nudge' from Alfie—more like a very pointed look and rough mental shoulder shove—Samandriel took an unnecessary breath and spread his wings. It took a few moments to scan the property and then a few more to look inside the house, but he found her.

The first thing Samandriel said was, "I suppose if you want me to find you more quickly, I'd suggest informing me of your current location, next time." He couldn't hide the small sniffle that escaped.

Maya's hunched over form on the edge of her bed perked up at his voice and she looked over at him confused, not understanding what the angel was talking about. Her confusion bled away at the sight of Samandriel's rumpled clothing, the reddish eyes and tear streaked cheeks, and that little sniffle.

Her heart clenched and went out to the young angel who looked so much more human in that moment than he ever did. More so than even Anna after she got her memories and grace back, and that angel lady lived at least two decades as a human.

He looked so vulnerable, no matter how much he seemed to try and hide it.

Maya's fear concerning Samandriel being an angel melted away and the tension she hadn't realized was present in her shoulders the last few days was released. Standing up from the bed Maya took purposeful strides towards Samandriel and pulled the young angel into a hug.

Poor Samandriel just stiffened in her arms, uncertain what was happening and what to do. If either of them could see his face he'd look like a deer caught in some headlights his eyes were so wide.

'It's a hug. Hug her back!' Alfie nudged mentally, smiling kindly toward his friend.

'But-but why is she hugging me?' Samandriel queried back, mentally tasting the foreign word on his tongue before deciding just to ask Maya directly why she was hugging him.

"You looked like you needed some comfort," Maya mumbled, then locked her wrists behind his neck. "I'm not letting go till you relax and hug me back," she asserted. "You need this."

"I—" Samandriel's voice was stuck in his throat as this immense tidal wave of sadness and relief assaulted what little emotional control he had left. With shaky arms, he lifted them to wrap around Maya's back and tentatively pulled her close to him.

He slowly began relaxing, just absorbing the comfort in her embrace while keeping a lid on the tears that seemed to threaten to fall again.

But then Maya said something he'd never heard said before to himself, "I'm sorry. I should've stopped my teasing earlier. I didn't mean to bring up anything…painful like that. I'm so sorry, Samandriel."

Samandriel tried to choke back the sob that escaped him, to regain what little emotional control he had but it was a losing battle as more tears fell, and he clutched Maya more firmly to him. Holding her tight like she was a lifeline.

No one…no one had ever apologized to him before. At least, not with so much sincerity in their voice. He was the youngest, the smallest, the least experienced, the last angel of the last cohort of angels God had made before Lucifer had destroyed them not long into his battle with Michael before his Fall.

The angel that was pushed aside…forgotten about…demeaned and belittled for something far beyond his control. The angel that was shown very little decency or kindness.

And yet, Maya for each question she answered, for mentoring him in a way to experience the world like other humans…and for giving him comfort…she'd shown more kindness than many in Heaven ever had. A half-trickster! A being he was supposed to be disgusted with!

'Ahem,' Alfie mentally and pointedly coughed at Samandriel. There was no malice coming off the human soul, just tolerant amusement.

Samandriel rephrased his thought with a small smile, Maya and Alfie had shown him more kindness than he'd ever known in Heaven during his short time here on Earth.

He listened as Maya murmured words of comfort in his ear and rubbed his back soothingly as he cried into her shoulder, believing her as she said quietly:

"It'll be okay. I've got you. I've got you."

Maya's words changed for a moment however when Samandriel held onto her a little too tightly when some angel strength came into play.

"I've got you, but, Manny, I still need to breathe," she gasped as Samandriel loosened his grip.

His tears stopped a moment as he realized what Maya had called him, pulling away enough to look at her and loudly sniffle with a quiet mumble, "That's not my name."

"It's a nickname," Maya stated as she guided Samandriel to the bed to sit.

The ache in Samandriel's chest lessened as he no longer felt…so alone and looked down upon now that he was with Maya and Alfie. Rubbing at his tear-streaked cheeks and a couple more sniffles, he asked, "What's a nickname, and why that one?"

Maya cracked a grin as she huffed a quiet laugh. She grabbed her stuffed blue elephant with red polka dots, Phan, and thrust it into his hands, "Yeah, still trying to find a good one for you that isn't 'Sammy'. Already got one of those."

They'd spend almost the next hour discussing nicknames and the ludicrousness of them…but also the familiarity and affection most of them held. Maya did admit that some could be made to taunt and to be mean to someone, but it all depended on how the person said the nickname and how the person with the nickname felt about it.

Maya at one point noticed how Samandriel started to inadvertently cuddle her stuffed elephant to his chest. She decided not to say anything.

Phan was doing his job.

---

.

Evening

Bobby

To say that today had been weird for the old Hunter would have be an understatement.

The day started out normal enough. He woke up, started reading some new tomes he got concerning the Apocalypse with Maya helping out with translations. That was interrupted when he got a call from a Hunter needing research and then a call from a client for his auto repair shop.

He had finished up in the afternoon and had walked into the house with his shot gun at the ready to find Maya—who was terrified of angels last time he checked—smiling at the young angel that'd been bugging her with questions about humanity the last few days as the feathery bastard experienced hot chocolate for the first time.

Then the 'baby angel' as Maya had called him seemed to have a mental break down when she teased him about his age and he had let slip how the other angels treated him. Bobby did his best to keep up his guard when it concerned the feathery idjit, but he could definitely see the youngness coming off the angel in waves right then and there.

Bobby mentally cursed that it was like being confronted by a little Maya all over again. Big, sad eyes and not a truly mean bone in her body.

He'd secretly talked to Gabriel about the whole thing and the bastard sounded impressed and in awe of his little girl for getting through to the young angel, but admitted he was pretty sure that Samandriel was the youngest angel in Heaven. Gabriel didn't recognize him from any fledgling cohorts but was certain the kid hadn't drunk all the Kool-Aid Heaven offered, unlike the rest of the feathery dicks.

Bobby could also hear the contemplative timber of the Trickster Angel's voice when he suggested letting things play out a little bit but still keep a close eye on the angel. No matter how un-dickish the angel was currently acting that could all change if he was given an order from the God Squad.

Bobby questioned why Gabriel wasn't more concerned about this like he was. Gabriel breathed out a sigh saying he couldn't really do much with his hands tied up by Douche-ariah, but that didn't mean he wasn't concerned.

He was! But not as concerned as he would've been if the angel had been more soldier-y and acted less like a child or young teen. Gabriel admitted to having an idea of what might happen but decided to keep it to himself and asked Bobby just to keep a close eye on them.

Gabriel said a cheeky/flirty good-bye before hanging up as Bobby started to cuss the archangel out.

After that infuriating call, Bobby watched as Maya sulked around the house, sighing sadly as she tried to do more translations, but it was obvious she was distracted. No doubt her big heart feeling guilty over the unintentional emotional pain she'd caused the young angel earlier.

He'd told her to take a break before they got dinner sorted and had foolishly thought his day had returned to some semblance of normal. But when Bobby called the girl down for dinner a familiar young angel followed behind her like a lost little puppy dog, clutching at the well-beloved stuffed elephant in his arms.

Maya was smiling, saying she wanted Samandriel to try whatever Bobby had cooked up for dinner as the said angel looked at him with big eyes and a shy smile.

It was a tense dinner for Bobby as he watched Maya and the angel interact with each other. The kid didn't eat much, just had a little taste of everything, his face showing his pleasure or displeasure over everything he put in his gob. Maya doing her best not to laugh too much at the young angel seated beside her and answering any questions that popped into his head.

The elephant's stuffed head just peaked over the edge of the table the whole time, perched in the angel's lap. The plastic eyes just mocking Bobby.

Bobby then thought that Samandriel would fly off, and he did…for all of maybe an hour. The old Hunter swore his heart skipped a beat when the kid suddenly reappeared in the study/library where him and Maya were working. Samandriel sent him a sheepish and slightly guilty look, one mastered by many an idjit everywhere.

…it was much too human-like for Bobby's comfort. He could practically feel his brain slotting the angelic feather duster into 'powerful, yet mostly harmless' category in the supernatural department of his mind. The category was a sparse one. Its main resident being Maya.

Bobby threatened to superglue a bell onto the angel before hitting the books again, looking over Maya's earlier translations and trying to cross reference them between sources.

"Women are the usual ones who wear skirts, yes?" Samandriel asked Maya all of a sudden with a contemplative frown on his face.

Maya tilted her head in confusion at why Samandriel needed to ask her this. It seemed he had the answer already. "Yeaaaaaaaaaah. Why?" she asked with a hint of suspicion. Of what she wasn't sure yet but—

"Then why do some men wear them too?"

Maya's brain halted for a second, then she huffed a barely restrained snort, "You talking about the Scots? I think it's just a cultural thing."

Bobby did his best to ignore them and just focus on the translations in front of him.

Samandriel shook his head, "No, no, I understand cultural relevance because of different nations and nationalities. What I am confused about is Mr. Singer's neighbor a couple properties down. A Mr. Brighton was dressing up in a sparkly skirt and too tight shirt with a wig and applying make-up to his face."

Bobby and Maya both made choking noises—both for different reasons—and looked at the calm and curious angel with wide eyes.

Bobby looked absolutely gob smacked…Maya on the other hand had the biggest shit-eating grin on her face, her golden eyes practically sparkling.

Something, Bobby mentally noted, he hadn't seen in a while.

"Was the make-up…tasteful?" Maya's voice was strained, trying to keep the giggles in her chest from bursting forth.

Samandriel frowned in confusion at her and tilted his head slightly, "As far as I'm aware it was aesthetically pleasing, yes. But why would a man dress up as the opposite gender?"

Maya whistled and shook her head, "Now that is a loaded topic."

Bobby having gotten a hold of himself packed up his books and the translations. Maya raised an eyebrow at him.

"Does transgender women or men in drag make you…uncomfortable?" Maya asked with a smirk, knowing full well how tolerant Bobby was and received the corresponding glare for her insinuating otherwise.

The older Hunter rolled his eyes. "Ya know perfectly well I prefer researchin' in peace n' quiet. I'd rather not get distracted by all yer yammerin' to Samandr-igal," Bobby mispronounced with a drawl. He knew that look in her eyes, she was trying to yank his chain. Maya knew perfectly well he didn't care about what folks did in their spare time—especially their private spare time—as long as it wasn't hurting anybody.

"Samandriel," Samandriel corrected quietly, receiving Bobby's completely unimpressed glare and harrumph.

"Whatever, Kid," Bobby grumped. He muttered under his breath as he walked over into the next room, 'It's a darn mouthful is what it is…' There was another mutter but neither Maya nor Samandriel seemed to catch it, but it sounded enough like he was cursing someone named Gabe?

Maya shrugged it off as she watched with affectionate amusement as Bobby closed the pocket doors separating the kitchen and den/library but leaving them open just a crack. No doubt to keep an ear on them. With a quiet chuckle Maya dove into the topic of cross-dressing and even transgender people.

Needless to say, Samandriel was fascinated and made the following comparison after Maya better explained the difference between sex and gender.

"So, they're like angels in an improper vessel," Samandriel began. "But instead of exploding the incompatible vessel, the vessel just feels wrong like…" he tilted his head like he was listening to someone (Alfie) before continuing, "Like an itchy, repulsive sweater that they can't easily take off."

There was a telling silent pause.

"First off, that's pretty simplified gist of the idea," Maya started as she counted off one finger. "Secondly…WHAT DO YOU MEAN A VESSEL EXPLODES IF IT'S INCOMPATIBLE?!" she said much more loudly and with even more alarm.

Poor Samandriel who hadn't started up use of his grace to suppress emotions again, experienced what it was like to feed off another person's emotions. So, he inadvertently started feeding off a little of Maya's panic and quickly tried to explain, "IT'S ONLY IF WE TAKE A VESSEL THAT'S NOT FROM CERTAIN BLOODLINES!"

"Oh, for some god—ARE YOU GOING TO EXPLODE?!" Maya's golden orbs rounded with more panic, more for the poor teenage sod that didn't realize what he might've said 'yes' to.

"NO! THAT WOULD'VE HAPPENED THE MOMENT I ENTERED ALFIE!" Samandriel waved his hands in front of himself negatively. He'd never consider being purposefully mean or misleading towards his vessels, even if Alfie was his first.

'Duuuuuuuuuuuude,' Alfie groaned inside their shared head at the unintentional sexual innuendoes the young angel was coming up with, hoping Maya didn't pick it up.

"DID ALFIE KNOW THAT?!...PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T MEAN IT SEXUALLY!"

She did pick up on it.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE APPROACHED HIM IF HE WASN'T PART OF A VESSEL BLOODLINE!" Samandriel had no idea what Maya had meant, and Alfie was mentally refusing to explain it further.

"OKAY!...WHY ARE WE BOTH SHOUTING!?" Maya asked, now perplexed why they were both talking to each other with raised panicky and squeaky voices.

Before Samandriel could answer Bobby swung the pocket door open enough to stick his head through and yell at them, "'CAUSE YER BOTH IDJITS!...NOW, SHUT IT!" He then quickly retracted his head. The pocket door closing with a resolute click.

Maya and Samandriel looked from the now completely closed pocket doors to each other with wide eyes.

Maya broke first with a snort she tried to stifle. It would've worked too…if Samandriel didn't then try to stifle his own snort of laughter as well. It was all downhill from there as both of them fell into peals of laughter.

Not the light kind either. The kind where if you look at the person, you're laughing with, and you both break into more peals of laughter, and soon find it harder and harder to breathe as your faces turn a somewhat alarming shade of red.

Bobby leaned against his fist as he stared down the texts and translations in front of him trying to keep up the peeved grumpy frown on his bearded face.

But then he'd hear another round of the muffled, unrestrained, free, and light laughter of Maya through the doors, he'd feel the corner of his lip curl upwards.

It'd been a while since he'd heard that laugh.

---

.

Heaven

Archives

Next day…

Zachariah/Douche-ariah

"What do you mean the tome is missing?" Zachariah demanded of the replacement guard of the Archives.

"I-I looked, sir, but I couldn't find the tome that contained the sigils," the angel explained nervously in front of their irate superior. "The only thing even remotely similar was—was for binding grace. Even then it was altered, different. I'm-I'm not sure—"

Zachariah glowered at the lesser angel and barked at it to get out of his sight, watching in satisfaction as they walked away (read: fled). Their grace spiking here and there with fear.

Zachariah paced through the stacks of books aimlessly in thought. The sigils underneath that aberration's skin were grace related. He shuddered a little at the thought of having his grace bound to a disgusting half-bred pagan piece of filth, mixing with all that unclean pagan magic. He imagined that the swirling feeling inside of his vessel's stomach must be close to what humans felt when they were nauseous or sick.

But these sigils did point to a possibility…that that half-breed filth had grace buried deep inside it.

Zachariah paused as another thought slotted itself into place, not realizing he was beside the shelf that contained books on Nephilim.

The only way for 'Loki' to have gotten the Enochian sigils was either from another angel supplying it to him or…he retrieved it himself.

And only angels and human souls could enter Heaven.

That terrifying, ambitious, errant thought he'd had a few Earth days ago slithered into his mind again like an unruly serpent. Whispering that the second possibility—no matter how ridiculously small the chance was—might just be the correct one.

The way too powerful 'Trickster', the rumor of a certain archangel's not-so-certain-demise, a voice of agony ripping through Heaven, and sigils that no one other than an angel could possibly know about…

Zachariah suddenly felt very lucky that he managed to escape his encounter with the 'Trickster' in relatively one piece.

Despite his building certainty of the true nature of 'Loki', that still left him with a couple of questions.

Why the half-breed abomination [was it truly even a half-breed?]? Why so protective over it if it was nothing more than a container?

Zachariah was slowly building a hypothesis for those questions, but still two other questions remained. They were the most important in his ambitious opinion.

How was he going to use this newfound information?

And when?

---

.

Heaven

Meanwhile…

Castiel

Castiel had taken a moment respite from his duties watching over the Righteous Man and his brother to walk the halls of Heaven amongst the offices of his superiors. Each office he passed he could sense the grace of each angel that dwelled within. He kept his stride steady as he passed by each one.

He'd been careful since his demotion of only watching over the Winchesters and since Heaven's ruse to show how no matter what lives they tried to pursue they'd always end up Hunting…and Castiel's decision to save the life of their half-Trickster sister. The same one he was certain was being used as a reliquary for the grace of the Archangel Gabriel.

Castiel would take moments here and there to visit some of the angels that had failed at defending seals and made it back alive. He carefully asked questions about the number of angels sent to safeguard a seal, how they had proceeded to do so, and how the demons reacted. At first it seemed that they were overwhelmed by numbers in most cases, but…

The more Castiel asked after fallen seals, the more he saw that the numbers seemed to be just enough to overpower a garrison. Then more and more instances of demons seeming to be ready for the angels descending upon them when a seal was a complicated spell. Or the number of demons increasing at the last minute when a garrison had just been dispatched to destroy them.

There was a pattern of sabotage appearing and Castiel highly doubted it was coming from Hell.

Uriel had been proof enough that Lucifer's sympathizers still remained within Heaven's gates.

As Castiel was about to pass Zachariah's door he was able to sense that the office was empty. He paused and carefully eyed the empty corridor around him before making a show of knocking and then seeing if it was unlocked.

It was. Zachariah apparently had no concern about an underling of his just waltzing into his office.

Castiel entered as though he had been purposefully summoned and let the door close behind him. He didn't plan to stay longer than a couple of minutes. Any longer and he'd run the risk of Zachariah coming back.

He approached the desk and looked in the drawers for anything concerning garrison deployment and information on seals, but found nothing. Castiel's blue eyes scanned the top of the desk and around the room but didn't linger and quickly strode back towards the door.

Castiel didn't want to risk being caught. Something inside him—something forgotten—twisted in fear at being caught. The same fear every time he asked a question of the other angels and their missions.

The same fear that pushed him to find the courage to question what he knew…he just had to be careful how he went about answering those questions.

Castiel let the door close silently behind him as he walked purposefully—as all angels tend to do—down the white halls of Heaven before finding a spot to fly away back down to earth and to resume his post.

Castiel knew he'd need to keep taking more chances to discover what was happening inside Heaven's walls and pray he'd have the opportunity to figure out why Gabriel used the half-Trickster to store his grace…and perhaps discover where the archangel had disappeared to.

Castiel observed as Sam and Dean had a Hunter's funeral for their recently discovered half-brother, Adam Milligan, who along with his mother had fallen prey to two vindictive ghoul siblings. Dean telling Sam how he and John Winchester were practically the same person. It was why they butted heads so much.

Sam had sent a glare at Dean.

"I'd like to think I wouldn't try to kill my own kid or do half the crap he did to Maya after finding out they weren't all human, especially after they saved my life," Sam stated angrily, waiting for Dean to argue with him, but he didn't. Instead, he told Sam he was too tired to get into that conversation with him tonight.

The tense silence that followed hung oppressively between the brothers as they stalked silently back to the impala. Simmering anger plastered on the younger's face and brief doubt and guilt flashed across Dean's before disappearing and letting bone-weary tiredness take its place.

Castiel eyed the demon stain that curled more tightly around Sam Winchester's soul, seeping further into it like the noxious poison it was. He wasn't sure of the cause of the rapid progression, but Castiel knew that being separated from Maya had not helped.

Being away from her had re-strengthened the demonic taint on the younger Winchester's mind and brought back the recurrent Hell memories Dean dreamed of in his sleep, albeit not as frequent. It seemed whatever her ambient ability had healed in Dean had remained.

Castiel's mind wandered back to his superior Zachariah and his flippancy over John Winchester possibly killing Maya when he discovered her secret. Surely, he knew how she affected both Winchesters positively and yet he'd set up the situation that would have either killed her or—as the case came to be—separated her from Sam and Dean.

---

.

Chuck

The last clicks of the keyboard echoed in the unkempt house as a scruffy author finished off his latest manuscript in his Supernatural series. Squirrelly fingers went to the beginning of the document and typed the book title, Jump the Shark. He then scrolled down the document to where the first change in the story occurred from his favorite draft.

Chuck re-read the scene where Sam was talking with Adam explaining what him and Dean were and that they thought something took his mother. When Adam asked if they thought she'd might still be alive the looks on his two older brothers' faces was enough to tell him their thoughts without words. Wanting revenge Adam had asked if he could help. Dean said he can't, but Sam tried to convince Dean otherwise. Dean yelled at them about respecting John Winchester's wishes to keep Adam out of the life before storming out to find more clues to what happened to Adam's mother.

The motel room door slammed shut.

Adam asked if Dean was always like that.

Sam gave a small scoff, "Heh. Welcome to the family. If it's not Dean in one of his moods, it's Maya plotting her next practical joke or trying to make a terrible pun work."

Adam looked at Sam in puzzlement, "Who's Maya?"

"Ah," Sam's mouth quirked into a smile. "That would be our little sister. I think she'd be closer to your age than mine and Dean's."

"I have a sister?" Adam asked with surprise. "Is she a Hunter too? Why isn't she with you and Dean?" Adam watched as Sam's face became hard and brooding, brows furrowed as he released a sigh. "Oh my God, she's not…is she?"

Sam broke from his brooding with confusion, "What? No! No. She's…she's staying with a family friend. Her and Dean…it's complicated."

"More complicated than monsters being real, finding out I have a bunch of half-siblings, and my mom's probably dead by some supernatural freak of nature?" Adam scoffed sarcastically.

Sam regarded Adam and sighed again, "Dad was brought back from the dead by angels while me and Dean were...indisposed, and he met up with Maya who he had no idea about…especially seeing as how she's half-Trickster."

Adam's eyes widened in surprise, "J—Dad, had a half-monster kid?"

"Maya's as much a monster as Dean or I am. Mischievous sure, but she's kind and light-hearted, wears her heart on her sleeve," Sam told Adam seriously with a stern glint in his eyes.

Adam held up his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, sorry. Still new to all this. So, what happened between her and Dad? You told me he was dead but now he's not?"

Sam shook his head, "No, he is. Dead, again. It happens." He grimaced as he remembered his and Dean's own death dodging. "Dad had learned of Maya's heritage when she saved him and didn't take too kindly when he found out he had a half-Trickster daughter. He practically kidnapped her, starved her, used her as monster bait, and when she didn't die was going to kill her himself." His face turned grim as he recounted the details he had learned from reading Chuck's draft, but told Adam he'd gotten the details from their mutual family friend.

Sam saw the surprised look on Adam's face, but he thought it'd be more. He thought it would be less mild looking than the slightly widened eyes and raised eyebrows.

"He tried to kill her?"

Sam nodded pensively, "Yeah. She managed to turn the tables on him and shot him instead-to defend herself. When me and Dean found out…it wasn't pretty. I was—AM—still more pissed at Dad than Maya. She was just defending herself, but Dean was furious with her. Mix of anger and grief and some other stuff."

"What'd Dean do?" Adam asked grimly.

Sam held his tongue and shook his head, "They had an argument and are on the outs. Maya's still recovering so she's staying with a friend of ours. So, they didn't really have a chance to work things out."

Adam gave Sam a skeptical look as Sam brought out a handgun and started walking him through the steps of assembling and disassembling the gun. Sam didn't catch the all too knowing look he had.

Chuck skimmed through the following pages of Dean's investigation of the old and current case, Sam almost being dragged under Adam's car by whatever was killing people involved in the old case, and Sam and Dean arguing over Sam giving Adam the same 'being a Hunter is life' speech John Winchester had given him all those years ago. Sam's voice wasn't as understanding as it was supposed to be when he talked about John Winchester doing his best and being grateful for training him and Dean like soldiers. There was a hard angry edge to his voice no doubt from how he knew Maya was treated by their Dad.

The, later on Dean discovered Adam and Kate Milligan's bodies in a crypt, the real Adam and Kate. Meanwhile, Fake Adam and Fake Kate had knocked Sam out at Adam's house.

Chuck's eyes read over as another scene was more noticeably changed, but the results remained the same.

Sam groaned as he came to consciousness, his hands and feet tied to the four corners of the table he was laid out on. After a brief conversation Sam was able to figure out what Fake Adam and Fake Kate were, they were ghouls. The Fake Adam sliced his forearm and Fake Kate lapped at the welling blood, commenting on its odd taste.

Sam called them monsters, while Fake Adam stabbed the knife into the table beside his head.

"Our father was a monster?" Fake Adam questioned. "Why? Because of what he ate? He never hurt anyone, Sam. Living anyway," Fake Adam said thickly as he shook his head. He angrily grabbed the knife from the table. "Unlike your little sister. Maya, was it? SHE killed your Dad. But I don't see you or Dean hunting her down and she's more a monster than—"

Sam breathed heavily through his nose in anger, "Shut up! She's nothing like you! She—"

"'Didn't have a choice…John was going to kill her,' " Fake Adam snorted mockingly as he twirled the knife in his hand idly.

"Like how our Dad didn't have a choice but to scavenge for corpses to feed his hungry kids, right?" Fake Kate sneered, her face lifting from Sam's arm, lips coated in his blood. "No, he was no monster, but the thing that killed him was. A monster named John Winchester," Fake Kate looked over at Fake Adam, "Something your little sister knows all too well from what my brother has told me."

They told Sam how they were inseparable like him and Dean, living off rotting flesh before deciding to upgrade to fresher meat, starting with John Winchester's cop friend, his girl, and then his son before finally settling on going after Sam and Dean. Since John Winchester was already dead.

And that Sam was right. The only thing the two ghouls could count on was family.

"It was hard to get you on your own," Fake Kate said with a cruel smile.

"But Dean won't interrupt us this time," Fake Adam added, eyeing Sam like a juicy, bloody piece of meat. "We're going to feed on you nice and slow—like we did with Adam. Then when we're done with you—and Dean if he's still alive—we'll go hunt down your little sister."

Sam struggled hard against the bonds on his wrists, grunting.

"John may not have cared for her, but you do, and we want the entire Winchester bloodline gone," Fake Adam grinned.

Fake Kate gave Fake Adam a look and they both started slicing into Sam, his blood dripping down into bowls strategically placed on the floor beneath him.

Fake Kate crouched beside Sam's ear, "We've never had a half-Trickster before, but some ghouls passing through told us of coming across corpses that were more than human. Their memories filled with fear of things they couldn't understand. Abilities they had no control over…or just enough control to be dangerous."

"Mmm, I looked it up once," Fake Adam added as he cut a long slice into Sam's stomach. "Old myths and legends of gods mixing with humans. I mean, if we exist then gods must still be kicking around somewhere, leaving more than one half-human bastard in their wake. Most demi-gods go about their business, living like regular people. Maybe a bit stronger, smarter, or quicker than most. Some more angry, some more lustful, all depends on the god. And the odd ones like your sister with supernatural abilities."

"We've also been told they taste different, like you," Fake Kate licked at a heavily bleeding cut, teeth scraping at the skin just threatening at taking a bite. "But much, much stronger. Never heard of a ghoul tasting half-Trickster before. Also heard they like sweets. Maybe your little sister will be just as sweet. Maybe even scream sweeter like your brother Adam did," she chuckled. "Oh, yeah. He was definitely your brother and a screamer."

"Maybe I'll have some other fun with her—" Fake Adam started cruelly but was interrupted.

"NO!" Sam shouted as he kept struggling, more and more blood falling into collection bowls. "You might've gotten Adam, but you WON'T GET MAYA!" Sam roared, feeling that hot anger sear through his veins, demon blood pumping stronger. "I'LL—"

Sam didn't get to finish as Dean rounded the corner of the kitchen and shot Fake Adam in the chest. He quickly shouted that they were ghouls and Dean quickly shot off Fake Kate's head, brain and blood splattering the kitchen wallpaper. Dean had to wrestle with Fake Adam at first, but Fake Adam soon followed suit like his ghoulish sibling.

Chuck saved the document and printed it out to go over some more edits later. It was always so interesting comparing the differences.

---

.

Late-April 2009, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States

Couple days later…

Maya

Maya sat at Bobby's desk having taken over for him while he left to go help Rufus and Eli out with some case over in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A boy was attacked in his room and now laid in a coma with a strange handprint like mark on his ankle. Bobby didn't know why Rufus and Eli needed help on what sounded like a run of the mill ghost case, but Rufus pestered Bobby enough to get him to meet them over in Grand Rapids.

Maya asked if she could go to help too.

Bobby had sent her an unimpressed glare and said, "Not a chance idjit. Need ya here to keep researhin' fer me. Yer better at the old languages than I am, ya know that."

That was yesterday. Now, Maya was pretty sure her mind was currently stuck on some old Israeli dialect she had to piece together from working backwards from modern to more ancient versions, then try to piece together everything that—

Maya released a groan as she gently lowered her forehead to the wooden desk. She had spent soooo looooong on the different dialects to piece together something even resembling the one she was trying to translate. Only to find the promising passage utterly useless. She then pitied ancient linguist specialists that looked at old languages and ancient texts that didn't have her aptitude for languages.

Didn't mean it was completely easy for her either.

There was a ruffling sound of wings beside her.

Maya turned her head and cracked an eye open to see Samandriel standing there, reading over the text she had agonized over and her translations.

"You are very talented, but…" Samandriel hesitated as he picked up her translations and showed them to her. "You made a contextual mistake here and here," he pointed out. Maya picked her head up a little and thudded it gently against the desk with a loud agonized groan.

A moment of silent in tired defeat.

"…you know this ancient dialect?" Maya asked, not moving her head to look up at the angel.

"Of course. I am an Angel of the Lord. I know most ancient languages," Samandriel hesitated on what he was about to say before just going ahead, "I was mostly stationed in Heaven's Archives and would read and learn many of the languages humans came up with."

"And their dialects?"

"Yes," Samandriel nodded, not that Maya saw it. Her head still face down on the desk.

"So, I agonized over this for how many days—"

"One day."

"And you didn't think to once—I don't know—offer to help translate?!" Maya sat up and glared huffily at Samandriel for all the wasted time and mental agony she suffered.

A beat of silence.

"You did not ask and I…I assumed you were learning another language to help you later in further translations? Would you not be able to use this later on?" Samandriel pointed out while looking like a scolded puppy.

Maya narrowed her eyes at the angel. She was pretty sure the feather duster had learned that when he makes that face, she found it hard to stay completely mad at him and was doing it on purpose. Maya released a slow sigh through her nose as all the 'huff' left her body and slowly lowered her head back down to the desk in defeat, mumbling he had a small point.

Maya may not see it, but she could practically sense Samandriel puffing up happily.

Jerk.

"I need to focus on something else…" she mumbled as she pushed herself up from the desk and walked over to the book and paper strewn kitchen. Samandriel following in her wake, pausing to look at a text here and there. "I might need to clean up and organize…" she admitted looking at the disaster area the kitchen and—looking behind her—the den had become in her frantic translation frenzy over the possibility of a very enticing lead. One where—even with Samandriel's helpful comments—her translations had led nowhere.

Maya started to carefully organize everything and tidy up when Samandriel—who'd been somewhat helping—tensed and looked in the direction of the main gravel driveway.

"Newspaper is here," Samandriel announced then went back to attempting to help clean…he was finding it difficult to understand Maya and Bobby's—mostly Bobby's—way of organizing notes and books.

Maya thought she saw one of his eyes twitch, and then snorted at Samandriel's inner librarian coming out. She just knew that Bobby's style of organized chaos concerning the Apocalypse notes were causing the angel much turmoil.

She then very resolutely and without guilt, left Samandriel to his inner agony with a warning not to mess up the organization. She definitely saw an eye twitch that time as Samandriel looked ready to lecture her that this was in no way organized.

Maya stepped outside and went to the gates of Bobby's salvage yard and grabbed the newspaper…that usually came around 8am…she forgot to sleep, didn't she? No wonder she made a mistake in the translations, she needed a nap. A yawn punctuated that thought as she unsheathed the newspaper from its plastic bag and automatically began flipping through the pages, looking for anything odd as she made her way back to the house. An interesting article caught enough of her attention that as she tried walking up the porch steps, she almost tripped.

The article sounded like—

Her thought process paused as she looked at the now spotless kitchen with neat stacks of paper and books on the dining room table. Maya carefully folded up the newspaper with a blank look on her face as she walked further into the kitchen and then peered over into the den.

Samandriel was just finishing up his organization of that room with a pleased smile on his face. Hearing the front door, he looked up to see Maya peer into the den to look around, and then at him with a blank look on her face.

'Uh oh,' Alfie mentally gulped. 'I told you not to mess with anything!' Samandriel frowned in confusion at Alfie and Maya's reaction to organizing the disaster zone the two rooms had become…that he could tell was about to spread to the rest of the house.

A tense hush fell upon the room as Samandriel stopped shuffling papers and locked eyes with Maya.

The following outburst and argument over Bobby's organization system—or the lack thereof in Samandriel's opinion—was loud, indignant, and highly amusing to the outside observer.

Like Alfie.

It ended with Maya loudly announcing and dramatically throwing her hands up in the air that Samandriel would have to explain to Bobby this new organizational paradigm when the old Hunter got back.

And if he didn't fess up immediately, she was fully prepared to throw him under the bus…she then had to explain the 'throwing someone under the bus' euphemism to him.

"Well, now that that's settled, I'm going to see if anyone's available to go check this out," Maya announced holding up the paper, the newspaper folded to show off the suspicious article in question. She walked over to the phones and the newly organized side table. She looked over at Samandriel as she picked up Bobby's contact (with aliases) book, "Whatever is written in this book better still be in the right order…"

A look entered Samandriel's eyes as his focus zeroed in on the book and the implication that its contents were just as messy as the disaster zone he'd just fixed.

Maya glared and flipped the book open to the first Hunter who wasn't crossed out in red, "Don't get any ideas."

Samandriel frowned/pouted as he watched Maya for the next couple hours or so go through about every contact in the book. A lot of time was eaten up when paranoia prone Hunters who hadn't had her answer their call to Bobby before, demanded to know how she got their number. She'd name drop Bobby and then move to the next number while the previous one called another Hunter to vouch for her before calling her back.

It was annoying and tedious and ultimately fruitless.

Everyone was busy or on their way to another hunt.

"Ugh!" Maya forcefully flipped the book close accidentally sending it careening off the side table, "I try to be responsible, not let the idea of doing this hunt myself sway me…no matter how much of a milk run it'd be," she picked the book up and let it fall heavily back on the side table to sit innocuously under the Wall of Phones, "I mean with everything that's happened and with Bobby gone it'd be a really bad idea to just run off by myself to just salt and burn a possible ghost…" Maya started to pace.

Samandriel—eyeing a ranting Maya—made his move and quickly swiped the book he'd been eyeballing for the last couple hours. Maya didn't notice. When he opened the book, he glared at the first page and how even the first two names and their alias' were clearly not in order. How did Mr. Singer find anything in this book? It only got worse as he flipped through some pages.

Maya stopped, her leg shaking in agitation as she eyed the article. No one's died yet, but…the attacks sounded pretty violent with some possible possession going on. It was only a matter of time before someone did die.

Maya worried her bottom lip; she had gotten a lot of her strength back…then her eyes drifted over to the angel who was looking more and more disgusted at the book in his hands. An idea formed in her mind.

"Samandriel," Maya called out lightly, watching the young angel freeze at being caught red handed with the contacts book and look up at her, "Bobby told me you were assigned to watch over me. Was he right? You're here to make sure Lilith doesn't run off with me in the middle of the night?"

"That is correct," Samandriel said with a nod. "I am tasked to make sure Lilith doesn't acquire you," he clarified…but not willing to divulge the fact that if it came down to saving or killing Maya to keep her out of Lilith's clutches…Heaven demanded the later. Guilt pierced through his grace and shone briefly in his eyes, but thankfully Maya hadn't seen it as she had turned to look contemplatively back at the newspaper article.

"So, wherever I go…you'd follow?" she asked with a clever curling smile.

"Yes," Samandriel answered honestly as he forced the reminder of his orders to the back of his mind. There were no demons here. There would be no need to come to the point where he might have to kill her…the incredibly patient, kind, and compassionate half-Trickster.

Alfie had been silent in Samandriel's brooding and rolled his eyes at the angel's inability to admit the obvious. 'Seriously, dude? Just admit it, she's your friend,' Alfie sighed mentally in exasperation.

Samandriel went rigid and then felt a light, warm feeling inside him grow as the truth resonated with his vessel's words…before the dread set in.

If the time ever came where he had to choose…would he save his friend or follow Heaven's orders and end her?

"Cool," Maya nodded, unaware of the young angel's internal struggle that would have life and death consequences concerning her. All depending on what choice he'd make. "Wanna help me off a ghost?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

Her voice brought Samandriel out of his internal crisis with a surprised blink and slightly dumbfounded, "Pardon?"

---

AN: Hey guys! So long time, long time. School and work and general procrastination really got to me. Then...forgetting I had this chapter pretty much done for a few weeks while school distracted me again...sorry. Still can't believe its been four months, wow. A lot of stuff has happened in my life, some scary personal firsts and feeling like my anxiety in stressful situations is just getting worse.

But rest assured I've started next chapter recently. It's not a lot but I am not giving up!

Shout-out to my Beta Reader: Kitten who was an awesome help for this last chapter!

REVIEW TIME!

vrskaandrea: Believe me it was tempting to have Dean read in detail what John Winchester did, oh so tempting. He was being an asshole, that's probably why we BOTH wanted to see him crushed by it. And as much as I'd love an emotional reconciliation with the Winchesters and apologies sadly they are emotionally constipated with an Apocalypse hanging over their heads. Hope Samandriel didn't disappoint this chapter!

Kitten: Thanks so much. I just try to do my best to write how I see Sam and Dean (at this point in time) and try to get into all the characters' heads. Thanks again for your help betaing this chapter!

xenocanaan: Sorry for the wait, but this semester looks to be just as busy as the last so might be a while for another chapter after this one.

Adipalmer: Hope this one was worth the wait!

lolxxx: I'm not sure I've inserted myself too much through Chuck, lol, but he definatetly dropping some cannon season 15 knowledge. I'd also like to point out its been a couple months since I've read Ch.51 so I might be forgetting something too, lol. Hope you liked this lighter chapter and we all hope Dean will get his head out of his ass. Maya deserves better!

happyperson42: I have every intention of continuing to update! It just might take me a bit longer than I'd like, lol. I'm also honoured that mine was one of the first ones you've read in the fandom. I hope you liked this chapter!

Bing-a-Ling27: Lol, some of the best discoveries come from mistakes! Glad you made this one, lol! Thank you so much for your feedback! I do my best to make her really sympathetic while also not making her overly powerful and Mary-Sue. I'm also glad I embody all the characters properly. Like I've said before, I do my best by them and try to think like they do. I'm glad it is working! I think you're right about Gabriel not knowing John was her dad and Sam and Dean her brothers would've just about destroyed their relationship, and they have such a loving father-daughter relationship.

T'would be a shame if something were to happen to it...like when I get to "Changing Channels" mwuahaha!

I look forward to reading anymore reviews you decide to post and welcome to my story!