"What do you mean you fell in love?!" Castiel demands and Ariel sighs as she sits up to look at him with a soft smile.
"With humans… I thought they were useless mud monkeys at first and didn't care one bit about them and what happened to them… But living all by yourself in a blooming world is boring as shit, so I took a human form and went along with whoever I could. I've had many… many lovers, I've even had children! Three of them are still living~!"
Ariel holds up her phone, showing him a small, smiling family, "Bastien is the… Youngest-slash-oldest. He's 45, a renowned fashion designer. He and his husband are actually fathers and they have two boys they adopted!"
"He's… Human, isn't he?" Castiel asks, looking up at her eyes. The brightness she had dimmed a bit as she averted her gaze, "Y-Yeah… His father was a human and for the longest time, he did have angel qualities but then he met his husband and he asked me to take his grace… He wants to live and die with his husband."
Castiel's eyes widen a bit as she speaks and he pauses for a moment.
"That must be really tough. Outliving your own offspring."
"Definitely doesn't make things easy." Ariel sighs, "But it makes them happy and his kids are so adorable! Then there's Reyna, she's a free spirit flitting around the world and the eldest is… Finnick."
The way her voice drops gives off that there's a long story with Finnick. Castiel sits back, "Why don't you fill me in on the last thousand years?"
"I'd love to."
Meanwhile with the Winchester brothers, they're scoping out the bar where they assume Cassandra is being held.
"Dean…" Sam murmurs as they look out at the patrons surrounding the bar, by just a headcount, there's about twenty of them there, "They're mostly vampires. I see a couple werewolves, demons… But the majority of vampires."
"Shit. They'll sniff us out if we get too close." Dean curses before the two of them retreat back to Ariel's shop, "All we've got are the two of us, Cas and an angel we know we can't trust."
"I don't know. She beat Cas and honestly, the way he looked at her…" Sam trails off.
"What? What about the way he looked at her?" Dean raises an eyebrow as he looks at Sam.
"Just that he looked relieved to see her. Remember what he told us about other archangels that could take down Michael? Maybe if we play nice and he plays his cards right, we don't have to worry about Lucifer or Michael…"
"I wouldn't put all of our eggs in one basket, she doesn't seem like the type to want to be bothered especially if she's been out here as long as she has without Heaven as is." Dean replies as he calls the number on the card Ariel had given them.
With the next step the two brothers take, they both appear in a living room, the same one as Castiel and Ariel.
"Hello, boys." She greets them, sipping some tea, "How about a shower, shave and change of clothes before we get down to business? Any suggestions for dinner?"
Dean was about to complain before Sam interjects, throwing Dean a cautionary look, "Sure, we'll rest up. How about some of that deep dish pizza everyone loves here?"
Swallowing his pride and annoyance, Dean nods, "Yeah, thank you."
Ariel points down the hall, "Shower's at the end of the hall, take your pick of the rooms. And boys…"
She calls out as they turn to head to the room, a smile on her lips, "... Enjoy~!"
Castiel glances between the two of them, his face unreadable.
The Winchesters nod and head off to relax.
"... Are they scared of me?" She asks Castiel, still looking down at the hallway, hearing the doors close.
"Absolutely." He replies with a soft smile as he looks at her.
One awkward and silent dinner later, the four of them reconvene in her living room where she stretches and snaps her fingers, a table and apparent floor plans for the bar appear on it,
"Okay, so… What did you both learn?" Ariel asks, looking at Sam first.
"They have guards, we counted at least twenty patrons, all supernatural creatures but they were mostly vampires. Some werewolves, some demons, all bad news for us." He replies.
"The doors are pretty heavily guarded and they require an arm slicing with a silver knife in order to enter. We didn't see Cassandra there but we can only assume that's where they have her." Dean chimes in, "We're gonna need some backup if we plan on storming in to get her, we know a few hunters in-"
"No need… The four of us will be more than enough." Ariel waves a hand, "Attacking in the morning should prove to be successful if you all can listen to someone else for once."
Castiel nods, stiffening up, "Understood, General."
"Caaaasss~ I haven't been called general in eons. Just Ariel, please." She smiles, playfully pinching his cheek, "I swear, he's always been so formal, even as a fledgling."
Sam clears his throat, "You think that the four of us can take… All of them on?"
She tilts her head with a smile, "It'll be in the morning, so they won't have that many people there, weakened as well due to the sun… I think that gives us a much better chance. You boys are going to be my backup."
"Okay, I have to call bullshit on that!" Dean snaps, placing his hands on the table and he meets Ariel's sharp look, "You expect us to believe that you can take all of them on by yourself? How do we know that this isn't a trick to get us killed so you don't have a prophecy to worry about?"
Ariel stares at him for a moment before standing up straight. Though she wasn't as tall as Dean, he suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and… small.
She strides over to him, a hand reaching out to take his jaw. He'd feel her polished nails dig into his skin and he winces but he doesn't break eye contact with her.
"My dear… This would be child's play. Only reason why I need your help is to make sure Cassandra doesn't end up in the line of fire."
She releases him and he falls to his knees, any and all energy drained from him, "... Get to bed, all three of you. We have a big day tomorrow."
Castiel watches her as she steps back and vanishes, "... Dean? You okay?"
"Y-Yeah… Just- remind me to never piss her off."