Dean sputtered, while Sam stared first at Death, then Tyler, then Castiel, and glued his eyes back onto Death. He could hardly believe it anymore than Dean could. Granddaughter of Death? Tyler? She'd never truly given any indication that she might not be human. Sure, she could sense the supernatural, but a lot of people could do that. Hunters, mediums, just regular people with a sixth sense for it.

"You're a reaper?" he asked incredulously, as he turned back to face Tyler. A look he couldn't quite identify flashed in her green eyes, then one of the corners of her mouth tugged upwards, and she said, "Half."

"Half?" he heard Dean say. "How does that work?"

Death uttered an exasperated sigh, swallowed the last of his apple cobbler, eyed the rest of the feast on the table in front of him, then said, "Did you summon me to discuss the intricacies of reaper reproduction?"

Both Winchesters froze for a moment, before turning their full attention back to Death again. He was not to be ignored. Annoy him and he might squash them like bugs.

"No," said Dean. "Of course not. We know not to waste your time, Death." Sam saw his brother take a couple of deep breaths before continuing. "We need your help."

"What else is new?"

Sam watched Dean closely as he explained their suspicions to one of the most powerful - if not the most powerful - beings in the world, and was glad he didn't have to speak. Death's eyes were dark and hooded as he listened. As he ate. Sam briefly wondered how Death would kill them when they inevitably crossed a line during their communications with him. Would it be fast? Would he draw it out to alleviate his boredom? And where would they go? Heaven? Hell? He didn't want to think about all of that, but he couldn't help it. Death was right there!

"I see," said Death, as he folded his long-fingered hands under his chin and stared at Dean for what seemed like an eternity. "I shall dispatch some of my reapers to deal with the problem."

"Just like that?" Sam said before he could stop himself. Death raised one impressive eyebrow in his direction, his face a mask.

"Just like that." He looked off to the side, then nodded at something neither brother could see. Death's eyes, as well as the eyes of Castiel and Tyler, followed a predetermined trajectory, and Sam almost wished he could see what they could see. Almost.

"Thank you," said Dean and inclined his head towards Death. "We'll go now." Sam sighed in relief as Castiel and Tyler both stood, and made ready to depart. Dean was walking towards him, when Death spoke again.

"Tyler."

Tyler stopped dead in her tracks, her back to her grandfather. Death leaned forwards, his dark eyes brimming with intent.

"Gentlemen, please wait for her outside. My granddaughter and I have so much catching up to do."

Tyler's eyes briefly closed, and she hung her head, deflated. Sam saw Dean frown and Castiel looked like he was about to object. Then Tyler grinned, as if condemned, and shrugged. She turned towards Death, and this apparently was enough for Castiel, because he strode purposefully to the door. The Winchesters followed him out the door.

Tyler watched the door slam shut over her shoulder, then turned her head. Death was standing right in front of her. She jumped.

"Jezus!"

"I wouldn't have taken you for a religious woman," said Death, his tone even.

"I'm not," she replied, trying not to look him in the eye.

"How much do you remember?" he asked her. He didn't need to explain; she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Everything now I've made my way back from Purgatory," she admitted, her eyes still on the floor. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me," said Death. "There's still one piece missing."

That made her look up and meet his eyes. Not cold this time. Not particularly warm either. Her hands clenched into fists without her say-so, and she shook her head violently.

"No," she growled.

"Tyler-"

"No," she said softly. "Don't make me. Please."

To her surprise she found her grandfather's hands on her shoulders. Not quite reassuring, but not threatening either. She fought to keep her body from stiffening from his unfamiliar touch. Death rarely attempted to be comforting, and she didn't want to disrespect him. Not when she owed him so much. Not now that he was all she had left.

"Then I won't," he said. "But you know the nightmares won't stop if you're not whole."

"They'd increase a thousand fold if I was."

"That's not-"

"There's enough blood on my hands in this world, granddad," Tyler said, her shoulders sagging. "I don't want to know what I did there...I don't want to have to face my...weakness."

"You were a child. That's not weakness."

"I'm not a child anymore," she pointed out.

"And yet you still run from yourself."

"We humans are strange creatures," she replied wryly. She waited for him to point out that she wasn't human. Not entirely. He didn't. He didn't have to.

She slowly released herself from his grip, smiled at him, and then turned away. She walked to the door, reaching for the handle.

"They were taken to Heaven." The words, spoken softly but with authority, nearly unmanned her. He was talking about her siblings; she knew it in her heart. He didn't have to tell her that. He'd done it as a kindness. She took a deep, trembling breath as she leaned her forehead against the door.

"Thank you."

Sam and Dean leaned against the Impala, watching Castiel stand a little closer to the door. Dean didn't think the angel was eavesdropping; he was using his body as a shield. To shield Tyler from their questions as soon as she stepped outside. He frowned. Why did she need to be shielded? Why had she kept this from them?

"Can you believe it?" Sam asked, speaking for the first time since they set foot outside. "Half reaper? How does that even work?"

"I assume a reaper had sex with a human," Dean said. Sam turned to him, his face showing he wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Dean."

"Isn't it?"

"No!" Before his brother could elaborate, Cas made his way to them. Sam aimed his frustrations towards the angel. "You knew."

"Yes."

"Did she tell you?"

"No," Cas said. "I knew from the moment I met her."

"And you didn't think to inform us of that?" said Sam, an accusatory tone creeping in his voice. Dean sighed, and grabbed his brother by the shoulder to stop him from interrogating the angel, but Sam wrenched free aggressively.

"It wasn't my place," Cas said simply.

"Not your place?" Sam echoed. "She's a -

"A what?" Tyler's voice sounded from behind, startling them all. He hadn't heard the door open.

"Tyler," Dean said, but she spoke over him.

"A what, Sam? Finish your sentence."

Sam kept mum. A ghost of a smirk made its way onto Tyler's face, marring it, before it disappeared again. Dean could feel the tension thickening. This would not end well. He stepped forward to nip this building argument in the bud, but Cas stopped him, by grabbing him by the arm. The angel's eyes were on Tyler, whose voice had gotten low. Dangerous. Possible volatile.

"A what, Sam?" For a second Dean thought Sam was going to step back and defuse the situation, but then Sam took two long strides forward and towered over Tyler, looking down at her.

"A monster," he said, emphasis on the last word. How Tyler kept her composure Dean didn't know. If someone had said that about him, with such venom, it would have escalated to violence already. Instead Tyler took a step forward as well, her face turned upwards, her nose nearly touching his younger brother's chin. Not intimidated in the slightest.

"This coming from a former demon blood junkie who drained an innocent nun from all of her blood to start the damn apocalypse," she spat. Sam and Dean both stiffened. Castiel had been talking. "How many innocent people, human or otherwise, have you killed, Sam?" she continued undeterred. "And how many did you add to that number when you were soulless?"

Sam's face drained of all blood, and he stepped back. But Tyler wasn't done yet. She took a step forward, closing the gap between them once again.

"I was born a monster," she said, shrugging. "You chose to be one."

If Cas hadn't forced his body between them, Sam's lunge might have turned into something more serious. Dean grabbed his brother by the back of his shirt and hauled him back.

"Time out," he shouted. "Both of you."

"Time out?" Sam said. "She-"

"She's our friend!"

"Is she?" his brother countered.

"I was," Tyler said, looking at Sam with such venom in her eyes that Dean had to look away. "But apparently you can't get over the circumstances of my birth. So be it. Come on Cas, let's go home. Benny's waiting. We'll be monsters together."

With those words she turned and walked away. Castiel looked over to the Winchesters, his face a mixture of anger and sadness, then he too walked away. Dean watched them go, unable to comprehend what just happened.

When Sam brought him to Tyler's place, he'd been angry at first. Angry and frustrated. Her distancing herself from him and his brother hurt. But still. He'd hoped to mend the rift between them. This revelation had caught the Winchesters by surprise, but Dean hadn't thought everything would spiral out of control the way it had. He hadn't expected Sam to react the way he did. Now Tyler's cold shoulder made sense. She had been anticipating this response.

"Jezus," he said as he sunk to his haunches, sighed and put his face in his hands. How was he going to fix all of this?