When Anna arrived at the bunker a few days later and Sam received a distress call from another hunter in Washington, Castiel was secretly relieved. Sam and Anna could work on research for the tablet while he and Dean dealt with the hunter problem.

"She won't even be here for another two hours," Dean said. "Why do we have to leave right this minute? Shouldn't we at least say hi?"

"We can talk to her when we get back," Cas insisted. "If a hunter needs our help we should make that our first priority."

"Well, it didn't sound like they were in immediate danger," Sam chimed in. "They just said they were tracking a coven of witches and there turned out to be more than they could handle."

"Exactly," Dean said. "And are these witches especially dangerous to the population of the town they're residing in?" he asked Sam.

"Uh, not really, I guess? Apparently they're out in the middle of the woods somewhere. They've been doing some weird sacrifices and shit, according to what the hunter told me, but so far they haven't murdered anyone."

"So... it'll be more like a house visit, yeah? We just pop in and see what's goin' on and make sure they're not killing babies."

"Um... more or less, yeah," Sam nodded.

"I still think we should leave now," Cas said. "We can beat rush-hour traffic."

Dean rolled his eyes at the angel, "Dude, I drive on all the backroads; there isn't any rush-hour traffic."

Cas shrugged, "You don't know that."

"Ugh, you just don't wanna talk to Anna," Dean sighed loudly. "I really don't understand what your problem with her is."

"I don't have a problem with Anna," Cas said defensively, though that was at least partially untrue.

Cas's issue wasn't directly with Anna herself, but rather with the amount of attention Dean seemed to be giving her. He believed when Dean assured him that they were only friends, but that didn't stop him from feeling at least a tiny bit jealous with how close the two humans suddenly appeared to be. It had taken years for Cas to build that kind of relationship with Dean, and yet Anna was seemingly achieving the same thing within a matter of weeks.

What made her special in a way that Cas clearly wasn't?

"Whatever," Dean was saying. "I'll be driving anyway and that means I get to make the rules. So... we're gonna wait for Anna to get here, be polite and say hi, and then leave."

Cas frowned, knowing he wouldn't be able to talk Dean out of this.

"Welp, I'm glad that's settled," Sam said. "I'll go set up one of the guest rooms for Anna."

As soon as the younger Winchester had left the room, Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean and crossed his arms indignantly. "How long will Anna be staying?"

Dean shrugged, "I dunno. Probably just a few days. As long as it takes to get the tablet translated, I guess."

"For the record, I really do not want Anna in the bunker," Cas said pointedly. "If things go wrong—which I'm sure they will—don't say I didn't tell you so ahead of time."

"You're just jealous," Dean said in an exasperated tone. "Which you have no reason to be, by the way."

"I'm not jealous," Cas replied with a little huff of annoyance. "I just know how these things go, Dean."

The older Winchester narrowed his eyes at the angel. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like!" Cas exclaimed, thrusting his arms outward in a way to emphasize his words. "We've been here before, Dean. We let strangers in and they turn out to be monsters or demons or just horrible human beings. It always ends up the same, though. In the end they always screw us over."

"I let you in," Dean said evenly.

"And let me remind you again that I technically betrayed you and your brother because of the trust you had in me."

"You're really not making a good case for yourself here, man," Dean said with an eye-roll.

Cas dragged a hand down his face in exasperation. "Look, Dean, I'm only trying to express my reservations to you about having Anna here. You don't have to listen to me, but I'd appreciate it if you did."

"You're worried about nothing, though," Dean breathed out in a sigh. "You gotta trust me on this, Cas."

"I do trust you," Cas said, his tone softer now. "But that's because I know you. I don't know Anna, not really. We were close a long time ago but so much has changed since then."

"Well, this is a perfect time to get to know her then," Dean replied with a smile. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

Cas wasn't so sure about that, considering what happened the last time they saw each other, but it seemed like he'd get stuck working with her whether he wanted to or not.

Anna approached the bunker with something like trepidation. When Dean had texted her directions to their residence, he'd also mentioned that along with himself Sam and Castiel would also be there to greet her. Something about seeing Castiel again made Anna nervous.

Long before Castiel and Dean had, apparently, started a relationship together, the angel had been unusually attached to the human. Abnormally protective. At the time, Anna didn't quite understand it. How could an angel care for a single human so much?

Now Anna could plainly see what had been going on.

Ever since he'd raised the human from Hell, Castiel all but had a bright neon-sign flashing over Dean saying, He's mine. Back off.

Anna knocked on the bunker's outer-door and waited anxiously for someone to answer.

"Hey!" Sam greeted a minute later, opening the bunker's heavy metal door. "Come on in!"

Anna gave a nervous sort of smile and stepped inside. The interior of the bunker looked nothing like it's outside facade. It was much more warm and inviting, with red-bricked walls and yellow lights enveloping the whole space in a soft glow.

Sam led Anna down a set of metal stairs to a large open room. There was a giant table in its center with what looked like a map of some kind etched onto it. Along one side of the room there were rows of bookshelves and sitting chairs. On the opposite side it looked like there might be a kitchen.

"I brought an overnight bag with me," Anna said, because she thought she should be saying something. "Where will I be sleeping? If you don't mind my asking."

"Ah, 'course not," Sam replied with a smile. "I set up a guest room for you. It's down the hall there, last door on the right," Sam said, pointing to a hallway off the main room. "You'll, uh, be next to Dean's room, actually."

Sam looked a little sheepish then, and scratched the back of his neck. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Dean and Cas got a call from a hunter in Washington, so they're getting ready to leave right now. But they wanted to say hi before they go."

Anna nodded. "So... How is Dean?" she asked cautiously. "We were texting back and forth for a while but then he kinda just... stopped."

"Oh, right," Sam said, again looking a little uncomfortable. "He's okay. I mean, he's good. He's just, uh, been busy."

Anna nodded again. "I understand. I'm happy for him and Cas," she added, because she felt like she needed to say that.

Sam smiled once more, though this time the gesture seemed a little tight. He guided Anna to the guest room to set her bag down and then showed her around the rest of the bunker. When they got to the garage, Anna saw Dean loading something into the trunk of his Impala. Meanwhile, Castiel was setting a large cooler down on the backseat.

"Anna's here," Sam said, not unkindly.

Dean snapped his head up quickly, looking momentarily like a deer caught in headlights. Castiel leaned back out of the car and shut the door—perhaps a bit too harshly—and then appraised Anna. His gaze was, as it always had been, quite critical and intense. He'd always had a way of looking through people rather than at them.

"Hello, Anna," Castiel said coolly. "Dean and I were just about to leave."

"Ah," Anna said, trying for a smile but not quite managing it. "Well, it's nice to see you both."

"It's nice to see you too," Dean finally said, casting a glare over at Castiel. "Sorry we couldn't stay longer, but hopefully you'll still be here when we get back."

"How long will you be gone?" Anna asked, curious.

"Ah, probably a couple days," Dean said at the same time Castiel muttered, "Not long enough," under his breath.

Anna pretended not to hear the angel and focused her attention solely on Dean. "When you get back maybe we can all hang out," she said hopefully.

Dean smiled and then nodded. "I'd like that. Wouldn't you like that, Cas?" he said, his gaze flicking over to Castiel.

They shared a look Anna couldn't read and after a few moments of intense staring Castiel finally smiled and said, "Yes, Dean. That sounds great."

But his tone reflected otherwise and it was becoming increasingly clear to Anna that Castiel did not like her. Which wasn't really fair, since she'd just arrived and had barely even said anything to him. Why did he seem so angry?

"Ah, well... um... I won't hold you guys up," Anna said awkwardly after a few beats of uncomfortable silence. "Uh, Sam?" she turned and looked at the taller Winchester, who appeared just as uncomfortable as she was. "I'm uh, kinda hungry actually. Mind making me something to eat? I'd offer to buy us lunch somewhere, but I don't really have any money right now."

Sam nodded sympathetically. "Oh, of course. I'll get some salads ready."

He gave another tight smile and then turned and walked out of the garage and back into the main part of the bunker. Suddenly Anna was left alone with Dean and Castiel and the oncoming tension was so thick that she felt like she was being suffocated by it.

"Okay, well, bye," she said with a weak wave at Dean. "Good luck on your... whatever it is you're doing."

Dean nodded and said bye while Castiel kept staring his unnerving stare. Anna felt like he might be trying to smite her with just his glare. Dean told her he'd gotten some kind of upgrade to his angel mojo after Jack helped him out of the Empty, so she supposed he might really be able to do such a thing now.

Anna shivered involuntarily as she left the garage. She knew Castiel well enough from their days together in the garrison that he made a much better friend than he did an enemy.

"Really?" Dean said as soon as he pulled Baby out of the bunker's attached garage.

"What?" Castiel replied, looking genuinely confused.

"Why were you acting like such a bitch to Anna?" Dean elaborated, his tone exasperated.

"I wasn't," the angel answered defensively.

"Uh, yeah. You were. Look, I know you don't like her. I get it. But can you at least act civil around her when we get back? You're scarin' her, man."

Cas gave Dean a look. "I was not trying to."

"Well, you were."

"I apologize, I suppose," Cas said, though he didn't look very sorry.

"Don't apologize to me; apologize to Anna," Dean replied.

Dean caught the angel frowning out the window of the passenger-side door but he refrained from making any more comments about the Anna situation. Cas would get over it, surely. He just needed some time to adjust.

The two rode in silence for the first few hours of the trip. Dean drove with his gaze fixed decidedly ahead at the mostly deserted road. Meanwhile, Cas seemed to be sleeping. Or, well, not sleeping, but he had his eyes shut and was leaning his head against the window.

"Everything okay?" Dean asked, because even though he was a bit annoyed with Cas at the moment he still cared about the angel.

"I just have a headache," Cas replied without opening his eyes. "Sometimes vehicles still make me feel sick."

Dean didn't completely buy that but he didn't feel like arguing. If Cas was pissed about Anna that was his problem. Dean had already explained to him multiple times that they were just friends. How much more clear could he make it?

The trip to Washington would take roughly two days. Slightly shorter than the drive to California but still quite a ways from the bunker. The exact town they'd be visiting was quite small, really only a few streets worth of stores and restaurants and all surrounded by a dense forest; it was apparently very popular for camping at this time of year.

The witches which the hunter had called about lived in the woods somewhere, supposedly doing their hoo-do at a run-down cabin. So far it didn't seem like they were up to anything especially nefarious, but the hunter still wanted the Winchesters to come and check it out nonetheless.

"Do you think this case might be a bit odd?" Dean eventually asked after another hour of silence.

"What do you mean?" Cas responded, lifting his head off the window and giving the human a confused look.

"Well, these witches don't appear to be... doing anything, really. Why would some random hunter need us to come specifically to check the place out? Why couldn't they do it themselves?"

Cas pondered this for a moment and then shrugged. "Maybe they just didn't want to."

"Okay... but why?"

"I don't know, Dean," the angel answered with a sigh. "Does it matter?"

"Uh, yeah. What if it's a set-up?"

"Why would it be a set-up?"

"Because angels are currently after you, maybe," Dean said, giving Cas a pointed look.

"But the hunter requested you and Sam first, right? They didn't mention me at all."

"Well, yeah but—"

"Dean, you're being paranoid," Cas said. "And besides, if something is up, I can just zap us out of harm's way. I'm a lot more powerful than I used to be, you know."

"I know," Dean said. "But if Raphael shows up—"

"Raphael doesn't even know where we are, Dean," Cas said exasperatedly. "He isn't able to track you and as long as I don't use any large bursts of my power then he shouldn't be able to track me either."

"I hope you're right," Dean said, looking unconvinced. "For both our sakes."