A/N: Thank you so so much for reading this tale! I hope you are enjoying it!

Thank you so much to all the followers / reviewers / and people who made this story a favorite. I would love to hear from y'all about what you think, which characters you would like to see, and/or any suggestions you may have for the story. I want y'all to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Thank you so, so much for your support!

Chapter Warnings: Victoria faces the possibility of a relapse, some violence.

I do not own Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sherlock Holmes, or any other TV show, movie, books, and/or song that may be referenced in this tale.

Chapter 10

Broken Halos

Dean rubbed his face with the hand that wasn't holding a glass of liquor. "What are you saying, Cas? She has no soul?"

Castiel sat across from his friend at a bar not far from Victoria's apartment. "No, Victoria's soul is present, I can sense it, it is as if it is being cloaked, or covered."

"So, it's not working?"

Cas nodded. "More or less."

"Which is it, more or less? Because dealing with a no soul hunter is not a good time. Been there, done that, don't want to watch a rerun."

"At this point, I think it's less."

"Of course it is. Damn it. We just can't win. Get Tor back, great, she gets kidnapped, get her back, no soul. Fan frickin tastic. We gotta get Rowena, see if we can get the magic lifted."

"She has a soul Dean, she just does not have full access to it."

"Right. But why? Why would someone want her to not have access to her soul? Why would that be an advantage? What's the angle?"

Castiel shrugged. "What is she without a soul?"

Dean shook his head, "The ultimate supernatural killing machine. But again, why?"

"I do not know. There is an agenda at play, we just have to find out what it is."

"Do we get Sam in on this or no? And you know we can't have her around the kid right now, right?"

Cas nodded in reluctant agreement.

Victoria couldn't sleep, she thought she might wander down to the kitchen to get something to eat, but when she got there, she also discovered she wasn't hungry.

She saw Jack sleeping peacefully on the couch. She decided to go out.

Sam stirred when she went back upstairs. "Tor?"

"I'm fine, I just need some air."

Sam turned to look at her. "Alone?"

Victoria nodded. "I'm sorry."

Sam gave a pained, slight smile. "It's okay."

Victoria Doyle knew that it was in fact not okay, but she also knew that for some reason she could not determine, she did not care. She put on some clothes and sat on the edge of the bed before leaving.

"I'll be safe."

She saw Sam nod from the side of her vision.

"I have not seen you in a hell of a long time."

Victoria sat on a stool and faced the young, bearded bar tender. "It has been too long, hasn't it? You know, I never knew your name."

"Colten."

"Right. Cusp of Millennial slash Gen Z culture, apt name."

Colten nodded in what he considered polite agreement.

"Colten, I have a problem."

This man had no idea what he was in for.

"You see, I gave up 'drinking'," Victoria did air quotes, "Because in my line of work, people's lives were at risk because I wasn't giving the job 'my all'."

Colten nodded with feigned understanding.

"But right now, I feel empty. Just as if my whole entire body was an empty shell. I mean, I know I shouldn't be here. Downhill slope and all. But downhill to where exactly? Is this emptiness just going to subside?"

Colten filled his cheeks up with air. "Is there someone I can call for you, maybe?"

Victoria looked at him. "Really, Colten?"

He shrugged.

Dean looked up from his drink and scanned the bar. His eyes stopped on the World's only supernatural consulting detective.

"Seriously?"

Dean nodded at Colten as he pulled Victoria off the stool and towards his and Cas' booth. He slid in after her.

"What are you doing here, Tor?"

"Getting manhandled apparently."

Dean let go of his grip on her.

"I wanted to feel something, Dean, okay? Something's wrong. And I have a feeling that is what the two of you are here discussing. I could just listen in, but out of respect, I turned that 'off' once I woke up in my bed with Castiel by my side."

"Liquor isn't the answer."

Victoria looked at Dean's empty glass and gave him a questioning "really?" look.

"Not for you."

Victoria looked to Cas. "What is wrong with me?"

Castiel hesitated. "It is the magic that is coursing through your veins. I am not entirely sure how it works, but it…"

He was interrupted by Dean, "Makes you more angel, less human."

Cas gave him a slightly confused expression.

Victoria nodded. "That would explain a great deal. The utter lack of feeling." She paused, thinking. "But, when I would read Angel's thoughts, it wasn't as if there was nothing. They did not have a void."

Dean pursed his lips together and thought quickly. "Right. I'm guessing that's because they were always angels, so they didn't have humanity to lose."

"Okay." Victoria accepted that.

Dean looked relieved.

Castiel initially could not fathom why Dean was lying to her. But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. To Dean. He didn't want her to think she was losing what she probably considered the most important aspect of herself, her soul. He wanted to be kind. But Castiel knew sugar-coated lies often caused catastrophic problems. Castiel usually acquiesced to Dean's judgement, but he thought this one might call for further discussion.

"The magic can be reversed?"

"Already texted Rowena."

"I am not an angel, I was not meant to be."

Cas looked at her questioningly. Dean, however, knew where her statement was leading.

"I cannot tolerate the nothingness." Victoria unintentionally put her hand to her chest, "Not after knowing what it felt like to be so full. It is as if there is an echo of what was."

Dean decided that having a spelled soul was worse than having no soul at all.

Victoria looked at her human companion. "I'm cold, all the time. From my knowledge of your personality, you are going to attempt to take the role of 'babysitter'."

Dean glowered at her.

"I didn't say it was bad thing. I am trying to process this without injuring the familial bond we've made. What I desire to do, and what I know I should probably do, are two very conflicting things in my head right now. And you are going to try and be my Jiminy Cricket, because that is what you do. And I suppose, right now, that is what I need. So, okay, yes, no liquor. Maybe Rowena can lift this magic. Hopefully. Because the drugs are wearing off, which is causing me to feel intensely. Not emotionally, but physically. And unless I can overpower this with something stronger, something that your family used to provide, something that I provided for myself for years as well, I do not know what I will do."

Dean licked his lips and gave Cas a quick glance before continuing. "I get it, Tor. You uh, need a distraction. Emotional ones are out, so uh, how about mental ones?"

Victoria looked at him askew.

"Let's find out why someone or something did this to you in the first place."

Victoria nodded. "A case?"

"Yeah, sound good?"

"Why not?"

Sam watched as Victoria stirred her coffee. He had never seen her not drink it at all.

"Did I put too much cream in it?"

Victoria quickly looked at him. "No. It is the same as always."

Sam swallowed and nodded sadly. He excused himself and went to find his brother.

"What's going on Dean?"

Dean kicked the chair out opposite him indicating for Sam to sit down.

Dean rubbed his forehead and looked at his brother. "I think you know Sammy."

"I don't know."

"Yeah, you do."

Sam slightly snorted and nodded in frustration and grief.

"Is it gone, or?..."

"No, it's being cloaked, according to Cas. It's like it's there, but uh, she doesn't have access to it."

"You weren't gonna tell me?"

"Yeah, when Rowena got here with all her books, and ingredients, after she did whatever to that vial of Tor's blood Cas took her, yeah I was gonna tell you. Why before? Why put you through that?"

"Because I needed to know? Because she's Tor?"

Dean rubbed his eyes. "She doesn't know, Sam. I thought you would tell her."

"She doesn't know?"

"No, I told her that the magic in her made her more Angel, less human. She bought it. Seems a bit easier than telling her she's operating without a soul. Don't know, seemed less damaging. She's still being careful."

Sam decided to drop the anger he had at Dean for the moment. He was going to forgive him anyway, so why make it more difficult than it had to be.

"So, why would something want that?"

Dean shook his head. "Right? It's just weird. The girl's more common sense than soul anyway, so what advantage does this get whatever did this?"

Sam leaned back in the chair. "Its gotta be us, Dean."

"What?"

"She's attached to us, right? That's gotta be in the way of something."

Dean thought about who they hadn't seen in a while.

"Son of a bitch."

"Holy fire, brother?"

Castiel shrugged.

"All right, you son of a bitch, fess up!"

"I, in all honesty, Dean Winchester, have no inkling as to what you are referring. So, either enlighten me, or extinguish this fire. Or both, preferably."

"Tor. You had her kidnapped and spelled her up so she could be your perfect little Chosen One again."

Ezekiel's eyes glowed furiously, the flames flickered, his vessel's nostrils' flared. "Victoria cares for you, mortal, but I assure you, if you ever suggest that I would harm her again, I will watch you burn and scatter your soul from here to the ends of the universe."

Castiel stepped forward, but Dean stopped him.

Dean and Cas looked surprised when Sam and Victoria walked up behind him. Dean looked to Sam as if to ask 'what happened' but Sam just shrugged.

Victoria looked to Dean. "You think it was my Guardian?"

"It made sense, Tor. Sever your emotional ties, you know, be the perfect Chosen One?"

Victoria cocked her head at the angel.

"Victoria, I can…"

Victoria silenced him with a finger to her lips. She walked through the ring of fire and placed her palm on Ezekiel's forehead. He fell to his knees, screaming in pain. Victoria's eyes flashed dark purple. She took her hand from his forehead, wiped it on her jeans, and walked back through the circle.

"Not him."

She continued walking away from the field, and back toward the apartment.

Ezekiel looked up at her, his arms on the ground, trying to regain his strength. Castiel extinguished the fire and went to his brother.

"I am sorry."

Ezekiel wiped the drop of blood escaping from his vessel's nose. "What can I do?"

Dean told Victoria to stay away from Jack and Mary for the time being. She understood having to stay away from Jack, her emotional well-being was probably not the best for his fragile state, but she didn't understand Mary. Did Dean consider her a threat to humans?

Sam followed Victoria into her room and shut the door behind him. "Tor, what was that?"

Victoria sat on the bed and looked at him. "I don't understand?"

"What did you do to Ezekiel?"

Sam took a chair from the table set they put in her room and sat across from her.

"I got what I needed to from his memories to see if he was the one who was behind my kidnapping and drugging."

"Why did he scream?"

"I suppose it was painful."

Sam closed his eyes and swallowed.

"That was the only way I could know for certain, Sam. There was no other choice."

"What if it had been Cas?"

"Oh." Victoria thought. "Well, I wouldn't want to upset Dean, or do anything to permanently damage the relationship I have with any of you, because I anticipate the magic being reversed. I would ask Dean how he would have wished for me to proceed."

Sam wasn't sure if that answer made him feel better or worse.

Dean came bursting through the door. "What the hell was that?"

Victoria looked sideways at him. "You had him trapped in holy fire, accused him of drugging and torturing me, and then exhibit anger when I answered the question you had been asking?"

"You made an angel fall to his knees and didn't break a sweat. Your fricking Angel, Tor. The one you grieved for years. The one you prayed to come back. That crap cannot happen again."

Victoria simply looked at him. "Fine."

Victoria's phone dinged and she grabbed it off the nightstand. "I have a case."