Chapter Two
"Sorry about the fire," the tall hunter half apologizes. "Didn't want you flying off on me."
The blond angel still doesn't say anything, simply watching Sam with the air of a trapped predator.
"You already know what I want," the hunter continues after waiting a moment. "So, I want to know what you're here for. Do you intend to help us? Or…?"
The angel remains silent for a few long seconds, before speaking.
"I had intended to assist you, perhaps that was a flaw in my thinking," her eyes flickered towards the ring of fire before settling back on the hunter.
"Just a precaution," Sam states. "A lot of angels don't really like us anymore. Why would you help us?"
He may have called for an angel, but after the brother's previous experiences Sam could not help but be wary. He had no reason to trust this strange angel.
"For you?" the angel admits, "I have no reason. For Castiel however… He means very much too me. And you mean much to him."
"Cass isn't exactly popular either. Why are you helping him?" Sam questions.
"Castiel is important to me, I have always believed in what he is capable of," the angel replied vehemently.
Sam knows he hasn't much time, and after studying the angels body language and tone he makes the decision to trust the angel. Using the unraveled hose to put out the flames, and the angel is quick to escape the circle.
Still watching the hunter warily, as if still expecting an attack, she follows Sam into the cabin where he leads her to his brother. The angel kneels next to the older brother and her palm lights up with blueish white light as she places it on Deans chest, doing an inventory of the damage.
"This damage, it is very extensive," the angel frowns.
"Can you fix it?" asks Sam worriedly.
"I can…"
"But?"
"Doing so will exhaust almost everything I have," explains the female angel.
"And you'll be vulnerable," Sam quickly catches on to the angels concern. "If you can heal my brother, I swear on my life that we will protect you until you recover."
The angel looks Sam, as if studying him. For his part the hunter can only hope his honesty shows.
Finally the angel turns back to Dean, unconscious and barely breathing on the floor. "I suppose I have no choice but to trust your word."
Now both palms are lit up with the divine light, and the angel holds one hand over the injured man's chest with the other hovering over his abdomen. Slowly the gashes heal, the intestines move back to their proper places, bones knit back together, and flesh repairs itself without even a scar.
After several eternal minutes the angel sinks back into a sitting position and slumps forward, losing consciousness. Only a few seconds later Dean's breath catches in his throat, and he returns to consciousness with a cough.
Sam is quick to kneel by his brother, helping him sit up.
"What happened?" asked Dean, feeling where his injuries had been. "I thought for sure I was dead this time."
"I almost think you might have been," admits Sam, relieved that his greatest fear had not been realized.
"What happened?" asks the elder hunter again.
"I prayed," Sam answered, pointing at the passed-out woman. "Someone actually answered."
"Huh, what does this one want?" Dean questions, expecting that any help comes with a catch.
"She said she was doing it for Cass," Sam shrugged. "And she wants protection while she heals."
"That's it?" It seems too simple for Dean.
Sam answers in the affirmative.
"Well, lets get some angel cuffs on her and head back," Dean says standing up.
Sam looks at the unconscious angel. "I really don't she's in a state to be a threat."
"Yeah, well. You never know with these things," Dean complains.
Sam gathers the angel up and follows Dean to the Impala, where Dean pulls some angel cuffs out of the trunk and snaps them on the unconscious angel. Sam rolls his eyes at the action, and deposits the smaller angel in the back seat.
Dean slides into the driver seat and starts the vehicle as Sam walks around and makes himself comfortable in the passenger side. With the headlights cutting through the now dark night, the brothers start on the road towards home.
After a few hours of rather boring driving, and a stop for burgers for Dean, they return to the bunker they have begun to think of as home. Dean heads inside as Sam is left to maneuver the angel out of the back seat and carry her in, silently insulting Dean for not helping. He heads to the infirmary and finds his brother already there with his phone out. Sam deposits the female angel on one of the beds and turns to his brother, listening to the conversation.
"Cass, why didn't you answer Sam's call?" Dean is asking.
Sam can't hear what Castiel replies with, but it apparently shuts Dean up about where Castiel had been.
"Well, I about died. Or I might have died. Again."
"No, Sam prayed and someone actually answered."
"According to Sam all they want is protection."
Dean turns to Sam and asks "What did she say her name was?"
"I didn't ask," Sam admits. "I had other things I was worried about."
Dean gives Sam a bitch-face and returns to his call, "Sam never got their name. And they're kinda passed out right now."
Dean finishes his call with Castiel and turns back to Sam. "Cass says we need to be careful, keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't get up to anything."
Sam looks at the still unconscious angel. "Pretty sure she's not 'getting up to anything' for a while."
"Well then, you watch it. I'm getting a beer, a shower, and bed," Dean announces.
Sam rolls his eyes, but does settle down with a book of lore and a drink.
It's long enough that Sam and Dean have switched watch, and Sam is doing his second watch, when the angel wakes up. It's not dramatic, the angel simple opens her eyes with a groan and sits up.
"How are you doing?" asks Sam.
The angel blinks at him but stays quiet.
"We're doing the silent thing again?"
"Surprised," the angel answers the first question.
"What? Didn't think I'd keep my word?" Sam asks jokingly.
The look the angel gives him says he hit the nail on head with that. That was too much for him to unpack at the time, so instead he tried to draw the angel into conversation. For the most part she stayed quiet, but on occasion would speak. To correct misinformation about creatures he spoke about, or to ask the occasional question about human culture or history.
It was several hours after that, that Castiel arrived at the bunker. Dean met him in the main war room and explained what had happened, and got more of Castiel's story that he hadn't shared over the phone.
Once Dean informs Cass that the angel who helped them is still in the infirmary, and Sam is keeping an eye on her, Cass becomes all business again. He immediately heads to the infirmary, ready to defend his humans from this strange angel who claims to want nothing. When he steps through the door though, Castiel freezes.
"Cass?" Sam questions, at the same time Dean asks "What's wrong?"
Castiel says something in another language, from the tone presumably enochian, and while he doesn't quite run he certainly moves quickly across the room and is on the bed hugging the new angel fiercely. After several minutes, awkward for the brothers, Castiel sits back on the bed and speaks to the other angel in their language. The angel answers back happily, and the two begin to converse.
Sam and Dean look at each other in confusion. Finally Dean clears his throat and gets the attention of the two angels.
"Someone care to tell me what's going on?" he asks, not liking being out of the loop.
Castiel stands up, and answers with a rare smile on his face. "Dean, Sam. I would like you to meet Sariel. My mother."