Up in heaven, everything shook, from the throne room to the jail cells. In the cells a couple of angels were caged, and a few workers were busy. All the angels, in their true form, pulsed and glowed in their nervousness. Two of them, siblings, spoke to each other, trying to figure out what was happening and seeking comfort from each other.

The rumbling increased in intensity, and the angels flickered more intently. Soon all the angels were ripped from their places, even those from within the cells. They were forced out with a shocked and pained cry, and joined the myriad of other angels hurtling toward earth.

Soon, every angel who had in heaven was circling the earth looking for suitable vessels to inhabit. The two siblings circled over the continent of North America. The larger light was able to find a suitable vessel quickly and soon was on earth.

The smaller light remained circling a while longer, being a little more hesitant to land but knowing it would have to eventually. Within a few days the angel found a suitable vessel and was able to get consent. After the light faded from the night darkened room, the angel got out of bed where the human had been reading before bed and examined the vessel.

The form in the mirror was a young woman, which this particular angel preferred, and Caucasian with sun-tanned skin. Long blond hair and pretty blue eyes, with a slender form of about 5'3". The human had been wearing strange clothes and the angel looked through the human's memories and knowledge to learn about society now. Now the angel knew that the vessel had been wearing sleeping shorts and bra. The memories the angel had viewed showed that this would be inappropriate for going out.

The angel moved to the closet, silently marveling at how far humans had advanced since the last time she had been seen them. Using the new information as a guide, the angel picked clothes out of the closet. She settled on a pair of simple blue jeans, a pair of brown ankle boots, a purple button down shirt with plaid checks, and finished this off with a brown leather jacket. In the ears were multiple piercings – two on the lower part of the ear, and one in the upper cartilage.

Quietly, the angel slunk out of the house she had found herself in. She stretched her wings wide for the first time in eons, silently wishing she could fly. Her wings were mangled and shedding feathers, and several pieces looked as though they had been deliberately removed. She sighed regretfully, but knew that dwelling on it would be of no use, and folded her wings back up where they would be invisible again.

As she walked away, the angel considered her next move. Finding out what had happened was important, but she did not consider this to be the most important goal. Finding her brother was moved to the top of the list. Her other priority was finding a specific angel, who had been on earth for many years now – Castiel.

For the next months she travelled the North American continent, her search for her brother made more difficult by the fact both of them felt the need to be silent over the psychic link all angels shared. The search for Castiel was equally as frustrating, apparently he remained off the link as well. She did know that he would often be found around two human brothers – the Winchester's, who were supposed to have been the vessels for Lucifer and Michael during the aborted apocalypse. Despite searching for them specifically, they appeared nowhere.

This left the angel with few options other than to just travel and hope to find one or the other, while avoiding contact with other angels. She was not always successful in this second goal, but was able to disappear before being found out. A fact for which she was grateful, for still weakened by the fall, she was unsure what the outcome would be and preferred not to risk confrontation.

During the time she travelled, she was able to learn more of human history, and about the culture in which she had landed. In this time, she heard many prayers, the kind which were not aimed at a specific angel but were general requests. Some were truly important to the people praying, those for a loved one dying for example, and others were more frivolous, students idly praying for a good grade not truly believing that it was a prayer. She cared little about these prayers, unable to do much and unwilling to waste energy.

On this particular day however, as the sun cast long shadows in the late afternoon, one prayer did catch her attention. Although the request of the prayer was a common one, it was the sender who truly caught the attention of the angel. It was Samuel Winchester, one of the brothers that Castiel was known to hang around, and therefore a person worth getting close to despite the obvious risks. Fortuitously the angel was able to trace the call to a location that was not too far from her current location, the outskirts of a small town just a few miles away.

Sam Winchester paced around the deserted clearing in front of a quaint log cabin. It was several miles from the town and there were no neighbors which made this a good place to meet an angel. If one even turned up, for he knew that they were not very popular among the angels. There was no guarantee that any would answer his call, and even if they did there remained a good chance that they would be hostile. He needed to be prepared for that.

As he waited and made preparations, Sam could not help but replay the recent event in his head, wondering what they had missed and how he could have done things differently.

In order to relieve the stress of the latest world-ending catastrophe, the brothers had searched for a normal case. They had found one not far from the bunker, all the signs pointed towards this being a werewolf. They had geared up and headed out to the small town. Once there they had run their usual bit of being FBI and done their investigation. When they were sure they knew who the werewolf was, the set out to hunt it.

What they hadn't been prepared for was a pack of werewolves. The two brothers had used the element of surprise to their advantage and took several down before the rest could react. The remaining wolves had been quick to respond though and a full out battle had started. When the fight was over all the werewolves were dead, but Sam was concerned that his brother wasn't standing nearby. It did not take long for the younger sibling to find Dean, still conscious but in a bad state. It was obvious from his breathing that he had broken ribs, and a good chance of other broken bones, and a wolf had managed to claw his abdomen leaving his intestines exposed and several puncture marks in them.

Sam had done what he could, but it wasn't enough and it was clear Dean did not have much time. Sam had tried to pray directly to Castiel, explaining what happened, but received no response. As insistent and repetitive as he was Castiel seemed unable to answer. Finally, in desperation, Sam had changed his prayer to all angels. He knew the odds were low and the risk he was taking, but with Castiel not responding, and no way to summon Crowley, Sam was running out of options.

Almost a full hour passed, before Sam stopped pacing. There had been no noise, no indication of someone walking up, but some developed sense informed the hunter that he was being watched. Carefully he turned around, an angel blade in one hand and a lighter in the other.

Towards the edge of the clearing there now stood a young woman, or what appeared to be a young woman anyway. She stood there silently, as if waiting for the hunter to make the first move. Sam was certain this was an angel, the question was whether or not this one was here to help, or attack.

When the angel made no moves, the hunter stowed the blade in a gesture of peace.

The angel cautiously moved closer and when she was in the right position, Sam was quick to ignite the lighter and throw it on the ring of holy oil, trapping the angel from leaving.

The angel did something that Sam had not seen before, for most angels moved to the center of the ring to avoid the flames, this one actually backed up. Although she remained in the circle she had pressed herself to the back side of it. Unsurprisingly the angel had narrowed her eyes and was glaring at him, but still she did not speak.

It looked like Sam would have to be the one to break the silence.