Bobby and Sila were sitting at his desk with a pile of books in front of him while Sam was sitting in a chair in the opposite corner, talking to Dean "Well, then tell me what else it could be. If Sila agrees that it's an angel and both Bobby and Sila think that it's the only thing that could have saved you…"
"Look, all I know is that I was not groped by an angel," Dean shot back, setting his jaw stubbornly.
Sam rolled his eyes at him "Okay, look, Dean. Why do you think this Castiel would lie to you about it?"
"Maybe he's some kind of demon," Dean shrugged "Demons lie." Bobby looked up from his books, raising his eyebrow in disbelief.
"A demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps… and Ruby's knife?" Sam pointed out doubtfully "Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing."
Sila stood up, carrying the book she had been leafing through with her "Here. Read this," she said, gesturing to a paragraph.
Dean blinked down at the page "Er… Sila, what language is that?"
"Oh," she mumbled, looking at the book. She shook her head and grinned sheepishly "Basically, Castiel is a Seraph. That means he is just about a foot soldier. His name means "cover of God" or "shield of God". Do you really think a demon would take on that name? They might have originated from an angel but seriously?"
"Wait, back up. What do you mean the originated from an angel?" Dean asked.
Sila sighed and ran a hand through her hair, thanking Loki that she had read Gabriel's books in addition to the knowledge that God had shared with her. At least, she would be able to help the boys better this way "Do you know anything about Christianity? Demons were created by an angel – a fallen angel. Some of the more powerful 'demons' you might have encountered or heard about actually are fallen angels. Most of them don't have grace anymore but one still does."
"Huh," Dean muttered "So you really think that Castiel is an angel?"
"As sure as I can be," Sila nodded.
"But wouldn't other hunters have seen angel if they were real?" he asked, looking around the room.
Bobby shook his head "Not if they haven't been on Earth in ages. I found a couple of books that were written by people having encountered an angel. But they were ages ago. Several centuries actually."
"Well, at least this isn't just another round of demon crap," Sam gestured "I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"
"Debatable," Sila shrugged.
Dean sighed in annoyance and ran a hand through his hair "Okay. Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?"
"At this point, Vegan money's on yeah," Bobby nodded.
Sila snapped her fingers and pointed at him "There is. He is a right asshole too."
"I sense a story there," Sam blinked "Hold on… Do you know him?"
"No," Sila lied. Then again, she didn't actually know Him. She knew of Him and met him once for like an hour but other than that. Nope, she didn't know him at all.
"Look," Sam spoke up, turning to Dean "I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof."
Dean snorted "Proof?"
"Yes."
"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally?" Dean shook his head, staring at Sam as if he had grown another head "I'm sorry but I'm not buying it."
"Why not?"
Dean groaned and sat down on the chair Sila had occupied earlier "Because why me? If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?"
"Dean…"
"I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy."
Sila placed her hands on Dean's shoulders, resting her chin on his head "Face it, Deano. You're not just a regular guy. I'm sure there is a reason why you were brought back and I'm sure it's plenty bad. Things always seem to be around the two of you. Just accept that you're back and focus on finding out why there are angels on Earth now."
"Do you know?" Sam asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes on her "You have always known more than you let on. Hell, you knew that Dean was coming back."
Sila raised her shoulder in a half shrug "I know everything," she smiled wryly "I'm sorry, Sammy. This is something the two of you have to piece together yourself. If certain people find out how much I know… Well, it wouldn't end too great for me."
Dean looked up at her expression and winced at the seriousness he found there. From what he could see, Sila would tell them but the fact that it would place her in danger… Sam had told him a lot of what she told him while he was dead and it wasn't pretty. Her story was a bloody one and – dare he say it – even worse than their lives had turned out to be "So… What do we know about angels?"
Sila looked at Bobby and shrugged when he raised his eyebrows at her "I wanna know what you find. My knowledge isn't all that good. I only know a couple of key things."
Bobby nodded and picked up a pile of fat and heavy looking books, putting them down in front of Dean with a loud thump "Start reading."
Dean gaped at the books before he turned to Sam "You're gonna get me some pie," he demanded, leafing through the first book with a grimace.
Sila snorted at him "Come on, Dean. The books won't bite," she teased, grabbing one from the pile that Bobby handed her.
"We're here," Bobby said, cutting the engine of his car.
Sila blinked, pushing back the memories she had been thinking of. Back when the pack was still happy, back when they were still so young "Already?"
"You've been zoned out for ages, kid," Bobby told her before getting out of the car to grab a gun from the trunk. Sila followed slowly "Here."
"Thanks," Sila nodded when he passed her one of his guns, checking it over quickly. She moved over to Sam, smiling when the giant of a man looked down at her in concern.
Bobby entered the house at the front with Sam bringing up the rear "Olivia?" the older hunter called out. He froze when he noticed the body on the ground.
"Bobby?" Dean called after him when Bobby stormed past them out of the room.
Sam pointed to the doorway "Salt line."
The three of them started looking around the room. Dean hummed, picking up the EMF "Olivia was rocking the EMF meter."
"Definitely spirits then," Sila sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"Yeah," Dean snorted "On steroids. I've never seen a ghost do this to a person." He looked up when Bobby came back, phone in hand and a lot paler than he had been earlier "Bobby, you alright?"
Bobby nodded faintly "I called come hunters nearby…"
"Good. We can use their help…"
Sila narrowed her eyes at the expression on Bobby's face "They didn't answer either, did they?"
"No," Bobby mumbled.
Sam's eyes were wide "Something's up, huh?"
"You think?" Bobby asked, his voice hinting at the fear he was feeling.
The more people they checked in on, the tenser Bobby get. Sila could have sworn the man was close to jumping out of his skin when his phone rang "Answer that for me, will you?"
Sila grabbed it "What did you find?"
"Hello to you too, Sila," Dean huffed in amusement.
"Sorry," she grumbled, putting the phone on speaker "Hello, Dean. Now, what did you find?"
Dean sighed "We're in Jackson. It's not pretty. He looks even worse than Olivia. What about the two of you?"
Bobby closed his eyes for a moment before he huffed out a breath "R.C. Sila and I checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams. They've redecorated… in red."
"What the hell is going on here, Bobby? Why did a bunch of ghosts suddenly want to gank off-duty hunters?"
"I don't know," Bobby shook his head "But until we find out, you guys better get your asses to my place."
Dean nodded in acknowledgement "We're on our way."
Sila hung up and turned to Bobby "This is weird," she remarked, racking her brain to think of what the hell is going on. She had still been unaware of the Supernatural back in her timeline, so she couldn't have any knowledge of this from before… And the rest of the information was quite difficult to overlook. Sila had written down some key points in a journal – things that she planned on changing but apart from that, she was almost as much in the dark as the others were. The only thing she was sure of was that this was a seal "Spirits don't just decide to all come out to play. This isn't how this is supposed to work."
"No, it ain't," Bobby shook his head "Why are they going after hunters? I knew Olivia, R.C and Carl. They were good people."
"I have no idea," Sila shook her head "But we'll find out. There has to be something somewhere."
Bobby rubbed at his beard "You're a good kid, Sila. You shouldn't even be in this business."
Sila shifted in her seat, leaning her back against the passenger door "Needs must, Bobby. Needs must. I would have preferred it differently but… We can't all have what we want."
"Too right," Bobby grunted and went silent. He knew some of Sila's story and it was a bloody one. The stuff that turns good people into hunters. The loss that comes with becoming a hunter was staggering. For John and Bobby, it was their wives. For Sila, it was everyone she ever cared for. They all died one way or another. Sam and Dean were raised in the business which wasn't what Bobby had wanted for them. He had told John on more than one occasion to leave the boys with someone who could care for them away from the life they now led.
Sila looked at him as if she could tell what he was thinking and smiled lightly "At least you have another research buddy," she told him "I was told I'm good at it."
"You are," Bobby nodded in agreement "More focussed than either of those idjits."
"Being more focussed than Dean when he is looking through a book is nothing to be proud of," Sila snorted "That man would prefer watching paint dry to reading a book."
Bobby's lips twitched "Hm, you might be on to something there."
Sam and Dean burst into Bobby's house, their guns at the ready. They had been trying to reach both Bobby and Sila for the hours it took them to get there. Ever since Sam had seen Henriksen, the two were even more frantic when it came to trying to reach them "Bobby?" Dean called out.
"Sila?" Sam shouted. He knelt down to pick up the iron poker, looking up at Dean with worry shining in his eyes.
Dean gestured to the stairs "I'll go. You check outside."
Sam nodded and turned, walking out of the door while Dean headed upstairs "Bobby? Sila?" He froze when he saw brown hair peeking out from around the corner and hurried over, kneeling down next to the unconscious girl "Sila. Come on. You have to wake up. Sila?"
"Dean Winchester," a voice from behind started Dean and he raised his gun, covering Sila with his body.
Dean blinked at the young woman. She seemed somewhat familiar but it took him a moment to place her "Meg?"
"Hi," she smiled overly sweet, moving closer to him. She stopped when he tightened his grip on the gun "It's okay. I'm not a demon."
"You're the girl the demon possessed," Dean realised, glancing down at Sila who was still out cold.
Meg smiled "Meg Masters. Nice to finally talk to you when I'm not, you know, choking on my own blood." She held up her hands "It's okay. Seriously, I'm just a college girl. Sorry – was. I was walking home one night and got jumped by all this smoke. Next thing you know, I'm a prisoner…" Meg tapped her head "In here. Now, I was awake. I had to watch while she murdered people."
Dean swallowed the lump in his throat "I'm sorry."
"Oh, yeah?" Meg snorted "So sorry you had me thrown off a building?"
"Oh, shut up," Sila slurred, raising her hand to her head. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut when her world started spinning.
Dean fired the gun, hitting Meg with a salt round before he knelt down next to her "Sila. What happened?"
"There was something in the house," she mumbled "I was trying to get to Bobby but I got hit on the head and then… nothing."
"Do you know where Bobby is?" Dean asked, helping Sila to sit up.
Sila shook her head "No. I – There were these two girls. I don't know. I'm sorry, Dean." She swallowed back nausea "Who was the girl?"
"Meg," Dean bit his lip "She was possessed by a demon. We killed her."
"It's not your fault, you know," Sila pointed out "Maybe you could have saved her but I think that if she were really as… as good as she pretends to be, she would understand that she had to be stopped. Even at the expanse of her life."
Dean looked at her with a raised eyebrow "Not everyone is like you, Sila. I don't think…" He went flying, sliding across the floor as Meg strode over to him "Meg… We didn't know…"
"No," the girl snarled "You just attacked. Did you ever think there was a girl in there? No. You just charged in, slashing and burning. You think you're some kind of hero?"
"No, I don't," Dean shook his head, looking down at the floor.
Meg grabbed Dean's jacket, revealing the brand on her hand. Sila blinked, recognising it from leafing through one of Bobby's books. What did it mean again? She knew that it had something to do with the seals but she wasn't sure which one it was "You're damn right. Do you have any idea what it's like to be ridden for months by pure evil…"
"Yes," Sila spoke up, making Meg's head snap around "I know what it's like. I was possessed like you were." She paused, wrapping her arms around her waist. She just wanted to see how Meg would react. Whether this was just a misguided attempt at revenge or whether she was being used to take out hunters. It was almost certainly the second one but Sila didn't want to make her mind up before she had enough proof "He attacked and killed my friends, my family. So you think you had it bad? At least someone stopped you before you could hurt more people. Isn't that the most important thing? I would have gladly died for any of my friends but they waited too long, let him play them time and time again until he almost managed to break them. He broke me and used me."
"Sila…"
"What?" she huffed, glaring over at him "I'm not going to let that bitch make you regret doing what you did. You saved a lot of people."
Meg gritted her teeth and threw the girl into one of the walls on the other side of the room before turning back to Dean "It wasn't just me, Dean. I had a sister," she told him, her tone venomous "A little sister. She worshipped me. You know how little siblings are, right? How they'll do anything for you. She was never the same after I disappeared. She just… She just got lost. And when my body was lying in the morgue beat-up and broken…"
"Meg…" Dean tried to stop her, glancing at Sila out of the corner of his eyes. She was still lying on the ground but seemed more dazed than actually unconscious.
Meg clenched her hands into fists "Do you know what that did to her? She killed herself." She kicked Dean in the stomach "Because of you, Dean. Because all you were thinking about was your family, your revenge and your demons. 50 words of Latin a little sooner and I'd still be alive. My baby sister would still be alive. That blood is on your hands, Dean."
Dean clutched his stomach, not even trying to dodge her next blow "You're right." He rolled to the side when he spotted his gun, aiming at Meg.
"Come on, Dean," she laughed "Did your brain get french-fried in Hell? You can't shoot me with bullets."
"I'm not shooting you," Dean smirked, aiming at the chandelier on the ceiling, causing it to fall straight through Meg. He nodded in satisfaction before scrambling to his feet "Iron."
"Oh, that bitch," Sila groaned, wincing when Dean helped her to her feet "I'm going to enjoy ending her."
"So, they're all people we know?" Sam asked when the four of them were in Bobby's study.
Sila winced, leafing through the book she was holding. That had been her last clue as to what was happening "Not just people you know," she murmured.
Dean nodded in agreement "It's people we couldn't save." He frowned "I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"
"I don't think so," Sam shook his head.
"It was like a – a mark on her hand," Dean gestured "Almost like a brand."
"What did it look like?" Bobby asked, getting up from his chair.
Sila moved over to him "Found it. Mark of the Witnesses. This is a…"
"A what?"
Sila bit her lip "Oh, you'll find out eventually anyway. This is a seal. One of the sixty-six seals."
"What seals?"
Bobby looked around when he felt a gust of wind "We got to move." He grabbed the gun in front of him and gestured for the other three to follow him "Follow me. Sila, grab those books over there. Quickly."
Sam frowned when they walked down the stairs and into the basement he didn't even know existed "Okay, where are we going?"
"Some place safe, you idiot," Bobby huffed, opening a heavy door that appeared to be made from solid iron.
"Bobby is this…" Sam broke off, his eyes darting all over the pentagrams and Devil's traps.
Bobby nodded smugly "Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. 100% ghost-proof."
"You built a panic room?" Sam asked incredulously, watching Sila look around the room, trailing her hands over some of the symbols.
Bobby shrugged "I had a weekend off."
"Bobby," Dean looked away from the wall.
"What?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes on the older of the two brothers.
Dean grinned "You're awesome."
They were quiet for a while with Sam and Dean making iron salt rounds and Bobby and Sila passing books back and forth "You really think so?" Bobby asked sceptically.
"I know so," Sila shrugged "I – Okay, look. I was warned that this would happen eventually and now that it's actually happening, I won't be trying to keep it from you."
Sam looked over "Keep what from us?"
"I told you upstairs that the rising of the Witnesses is a seal, right?" When both boys nodded, she gestured to the book in front of her and Bobby "Well, it's part of the Book of Revelations. This – This is a sign of the apocalypse."
Dean gaped at her "Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, 5 dollar a gallon gas apocalypse?"
Sila blinked at him "I don't know about the gas prices and Pestilence is one of the four horsemen but yeah. That one."
"Okay, so… What do we do now?" Sam asked, plopping down in his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"Road trip," Dean said immediately "Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience, Bunny Ranch. Hey, you ever been, Sila?"
She shook her head with a small grin "Nope. Also, I raise you Disney World."
"Deal."
"First things first," Bobby spoke up, raising his eyebrows at them "How about we survive our friends out there?"
Dean sighed "Great. Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgement Day?"
"It's a spell," Bobby indicated to the paper in front of him "To send the witnesses back to rest. Should work."
Sam grimaced "Should… Great."
"If I translated it correctly," Bobby shrugged "I think I got everything we need here at the house."
"Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?" Dean asked hopefully.
Bobby shot him a grim look "So, you thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden? Spell's got to be cast over an open fire."
"The fireplace in the library," Sam realised.
"Bingo," Bobby nodded.
Dean looked from one person to the other "That's just not as appealing as a – uh – ghost-proof panic room, you know?"
Sila snatched the list from Bobby's hands along with the book "Where is the stuff, Bobby?"
"Why?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Because all those people up there… They're your witnesses, not mine," Sila pointed out with a wry smile "All of mine are… Well, it's a long and complicated story that I will tell you in a room that is better warded than this."
"Better warded?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.
Sila shot him a small grin "I'll get to that once we unrise the witnesses." She turned to Bobby "I hope you don't mind me tagging this room a little more, do you?"
Bobby waved his hand "Be my guest."
"Awesome," Sila nodded and quickly reading over the list and where she would find the ingredients. Thankfully, she had seen all of the boxes Bobby was referring to before, so she knew where they were "Okay. I'll get this done."
"Sila," Dean called out, handing her a gun and several newly made bullets "Be careful, will you? I don't like sending you out there alone."
Sila smiled at him "It's going to be alright. I have the best chance of actually managing. If anything happens, I'll call Loki." Bobby grimaced at the thought of the pagan in his house but didn't say anything as Sila quickly checked over the gun.
The boys opened the door for Sila, hesitating when she walked through. They watched as she made her way forward, disappearing from view "Are you sure this was a good idea?" Sam murmured when they closed it again.
"Not at all," Dean groaned, running a hand through his hair "But what choice do we have? We don't know how many spirits are here. The girls, Meg, Henriksen… Actually, that is what's making this even worse." He started pacing up and down in front of the door "Why the hell did we let her go alone?"
Sila froze when she saw the ghost sitting on the stairs, frowning when she didn't recognise him. He wasn't part of the earlier assaults as far as she could tell. Did he just show up?
"Hello. You're with the Winchesters, aren't you?"
"What makes you think that?" Sila asked, her sarcasm shining through. She just wanted this over with. Not just the ghost thing but the whole apocalypse. The sooner it was over, the sooner she could go… home. Or at least the place that had been her home before "The fact that I'm with them now?"
The man stood up and walked closer to where she was standing "How many have they hurt? How many have died because of them? I did… Do you really want to be next?"
Sila smirked "Too little, too late," she snorted "I don't know how you think you are but you don't know shit about me, so be a good little ghost and fuck off, will you? I have work to do."
"You're trying to get rid of us," a voice spoke up behind her. She turned to see the dark-skinned man – Henriksen if she wasn't mistaken.
She groaned when she realised that the ghosts had boxed her in and without making it obvious, she shielded herself, raising the gun to shoot at both of them "There you go," she grumbled, reloading the gun on her way up the stairs. Maybe she should have grabbed another one but it was too late for that.
Once she reached the living room, she placed everything down on the table by the fireplace, lighting it with a flick of her fingers. She glanced over the list and nodded to herself, making her way up the stairs towards the linen closet. When everything stayed silent, she enlarged the shield around herself, strengthening it. The box that she needed was heavy enough for her to need most of her concentration to get back down the stairs without tripping, never mind the fact that there was no way she would be able to shoot any ghosts on the way.
When she went to grab the rest of the stuff from the kitchen, she was flung across the room, hitting the wall with a loud crack "Ow," she groaned, looking up to see Meg standing in front of her with a smirk on her face "Oh great… You again."
Meg opened her mouth to say something when a shot rang out behind her "Sila," Sam called out, crouching down next to her "Are you okay?"
"Fine," she mumbled "What are you doing up here? I thought you said you'd stay downstairs."
"We heard the shots," Dean told her, looking over the list on the table "What else do you need?"
Sila let Sam help her to her feet "Hemlock, opium and wormwood," she said, making her way over "It's in the cutlery drawer. There's a false bottom." Dean was about to make a comment when he shook his head, hurrying to the kitchen.
"Anything else?" Sam asked.
"I need you to draw this," Sila told him, pointing to the chalk and the open pages of the book "I'm going to make sure we won't get disturbed again."
Sam nodded "You got it."
Sila was just making a salt line on the ground when the kitchen door slammed shut "Dean?"
"I'm alright," he shouted back "Give me a moment. I'll be right there."
When the salt line was finished, Sila reached for her spark, reinforcing it to make sure it stayed put "Sam, are you done?" When he nodded his head, she glanced at the kitchen "Go look for Dean. Hurry. I'm not sure how long the barrier is going to hold."
Sam grabbed his gun and ran to the kitchen, shooting immediately when he saw that Henriksen had his hand in Dean's chest "You alright?" he asked, rushing over to check on Dean.
"No," Dean grunted, struggling to get up.
Sam grimaced in sympathy and pulled Dean to his feet "Let's go."
"Did you get it?" Sila asked as soon as they reached the library where she had already assembled everything else.
Dean put down the second hex box, rubbing at his chest with a wince. He glanced at the salt line "How sure are you that this will hold?"
"If we hurry, pretty sure," Sila told him "But there are no guarantees. I haven't exactly practised with anything but mountain ash before, so I'd suggest you shoot at everyone coming too close.
"I can do that," Dean nodded.
Sila started reciting the spell, hurrying as much as her knowledge in Latin would let her. When she was halfway through, the windows burst open and the wind fills the room as the ghosts attempted to breach Sila's salt barrier. She glanced up, for a moment faltering in her chanting but when nothing happened, she continued. When the spell was finished, Sila threw the bowl into the fire, turning it blue. The ghosts let out silent screams as they disappeared into thin air.
"Is it over?" Dean asked when the wind stopped abruptly, looking around nervously.
Sila nodded and dropped to the floor as her legs gave out on her. Holding her shield up for her journey through the house and the barrier had tired her out. It wasn't often that she used her spark – her magic but she was slowly starting to build up her stamina. Similarly, to how she had to build up her strength and muscle mass in her new body.
Despite having different parts, it wasn't that different. Gabriel had given up on making her wear dresses she wasn't comfortable in after the first time she met the boys but it didn't mean that she didn't occasionally like wearing them. Things had changed so much and it was easier to blend in when she was hunting or when Gabriel took her some places. While she still preferred to wear sweatshirts and jeans, needs must. Her clothing had never really mattered to her, not even when she was still Stiles. A lot of things changed and she was slowly starting to see the light, despite the fact that she was still pissed at Him for how he handled everything. Had she had more warning, then maybe she wouldn't have been so thrown when she turned into a girl. In the end, she decided it was easier to blame Him and be done with it than to think of how much she failed everyone in her future… She had gotten a second chance and she would sure as hell use is.
